


Three and a Half Men

by ivorydice



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anxious bby Noct, De-Aged Noctis, FFXV Kink Meme, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I have no idea where this is going fyi, Ignis and Noctis friendship gives me life okay, Swearing, Work In Progress, some violence, will add more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-10-10 15:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10440546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivorydice/pseuds/ivorydice
Summary: He shuffled forward, then hesitated when the kid -not a kid, this is Noct- flinched. "Noct?" he asked. "Come on, man, tell me what's going on."Noctis stared at him for a long moment, and then, very gently, he said, "Who are you?"





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt at the kinkmeme here: https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/841.html?thread=1268809
> 
> _"Noct is de-aged somehow (to 8-10 years old) and the chocobros have to take care of a very confused and scared little prince until they figure out how to turn him back to normal."_
> 
> So I've had this idea for some time, because who can resist cute little baby Noct, and the prompt above gave me the perfect excuse to finally get my butt into gear and write this. Although it's taken awhile, sorry to the original prompter for the wait! Writer's block + life issues = no fun.
> 
> I've edited this chapter so many god damn times, I'm honestly sick of seeing it lol, so I'm uploading it now. I'll probably end up coming back to it later and go over it again. No beta, so any/all mistakes and stuff are mine. Feel free to point any out!
> 
> (I might change the title later herp derp)

It was official; Prompto was the only sane person in their group.  
  
Gladio? He was meant to be the King's Shield, but clearly that job didn't extend to shielding him from ridiculous ideas. He claimed to have such incredible survival skills, superior to the rest of them, _of course_ , but then where were his survival instincts when it came to this stupid plan? It must have been all of those muscles, they were stopping him from thinking properly or something. Too much brawn and not enough brain, that was it.  
  
Ignis? There was no doubting that he was an intelligent guy, he was trained to be the King's advisor after all, but he was so very _clearly_ a sociopath at this point that it wasn't even funny. It was possible he was even a sadist. He had that potential glint in his eyes, and it would definitely explain his need to spout off all of those damn puns and sharp jokes while the rest of them were busy getting their asses handed to them.  
  
And Noct? Well, Noctis was just straight up _crazy_.  
  
Yeah, Prompto was the only sane one, because only a sane person would know that splitting up into two separate groups was _never_ a good idea and it was likely to get them all killed. Didn't these guys ever watch movies? Well, at least _he_ could remember countless movie nights he and Noctis had had back in Insomnia, but had his friend actually taken any of it in or had he simply snored his way through them all?  
  
"I'm telling you, man," Prompto said. "This is such a huge mistake, I'm not even joking."  
  
Noctis, walking a few feet ahead of him, threw him an exasperated look from over his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm beginning to think it is."  
  
Prompto stared at him. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah. Listening to you whine for fifteen minutes straight is making me want to throw you off a cliff."  
  
"Hey," Prompto made a show of pouting at him, even when his friend started smirking. "It hasn't been fifteen minutes."  
  
"I'm pretty sure it has." At his silence, Noctis looked back at him again and smiled briefly. "Just keep on looking, okay? The sooner we find this guy's gear, the sooner we can meet up with the others and get out of here. I'm thinking burgers for lunch, sound good?"  
  
"A burger sounds _so_ good right now. Hey, I know, why don't we meet up with Ignis and Gladio _now_ instead, so then there's a higher chance of us living to get those burgers?"  
  
Noctis chuckled. "Prompto, eyes peeled, mouth closed."  
  
"Hey, that's my line!"  
  
It was Cindy who had asked them for their assistance with this job. A hunter friend of hers had been out here some time ago and had apparently lost his backpack and gear when he had been overwhelmed by a pack of coeurls. His injuries had meant it had been easier for him to take the bare essentials and make a run for it, leaving the rest behind to pick up later, which also included a few personal, irreplaceable items. Except now he was still recovering from his injuries and couldn't make it out into the area to get the gear himself, hence Cindy requesting their help.  
  
They were miles and miles from Hammerhead out here, bordering into Duscae, but a job was a job, it meant more gil and if it rewarded them with Cindy's bright smile then so much the better.  
  
Except, of course, for the fact that his friends were insane morons and were determined to get them all killed.  
  
"Prompto," Noctis said suddenly, quietly, crouching down and motioning for him to do the same. Prompto quickly ducked down and approached slowly, noticing that the path they had been following had brought them to a break in the trees and to the beginnings of a downwards slope. Beyond the slope was what appeared to be a quarry, clearly abandoned a long time ago, the only signs that it had ever once been occupied by people being the occasional rusted cranes and the wooden shelter near the far off end.  
  
"This looks like a good place to search," Noctis murmured.  
  
Prompto also noticed the two coeurls walking along in the quarry. They were off to their right and some distance away from them, but still close enough to be a problem. "I don't know," Prompto whispered back.  
  
"It's just two coeurls," Noctis smirked. "We can take them, no problem."  
  
Prompto stared at them and shook his head slowly. "Dude, there's nothing 'just' about coeurls. They're big. And scary. And vicious."  
  
"And so is Gladio the first thing in the morning, and yet you face him without even blinking."  
  
"That's Gladio, he's like a kitten on the inside."  
  
"Prompto," Noctis rolled his eyes. "We've fought coeurls before."  
  
"Yeah, with all _four_ of us fighting together. It'd be so much easier if we were fighting that way, but _noooo_ , we just _had_ to split up today to 'cover more ground'. That excuse is so full of _crap_ , I can't even tell you. You know who decides to split up? Huh? Do you?" Noctis was staring at him now, lips twitching like he was fighting back a smile and eyes sparkling, and damn it Prompto couldn't _really_ be the only sane one here could he? "Rookies, that's who," he continued. "Rookies in movies. And do you know what happens to them?"  
  
Noctis raised an eyebrow, still looking amused. "What's that, Prom?"  
  
"They _die_ , that's what. They die because they think they're so tough but, _hello_ , strength in numbers, man. Strength. In. Numbers."  
  
"Right," Noctis's voice seemed to shake and his lips pressed tighter together. He ran a hand over his face and shot Prompto another amused glance. "Tell you what. Since you're so concerned about those coeurls, how about you wait up here and I'll go and search the quarry myself?"  
  
"What?" Prompto stared at him. "Wh—you—I—were you _not_ just listening to me? That sounds a lot like splitting up. Splitting up is _bad_ , man, how many times do I have to say this?"  
  
"Well, then you'll have to come down there with me, won't you?" Noctis full on grinned at him this time and, still crouching, slowly started to make his way towards the slope.  
  
"No," Prompto hissed. "No way, I didn't agree to this, you—"  
  
"Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of us splitting up. All of this distance, you know?"  
  
Oh, _oh no_ , he did _not_ just say that. Well then. Royalty or not, Noctis was _so_ going to pay for this later. Provided they made it out alive, of course. Prompto bit his lip and followed after his friend as they descended the slope. This area wasn't too steep, lucky for them, but there were plenty of loose rocks and so it was a little tricky to make their journey downwards as quiet as possible. So they went slowly, keeping low and gripping at the dirt, and soon enough they were back on flat ground, still trying to stay low and out of sight of the coeurls.  
  
"Okay, I'm thinking we take them by surprise instead of just charging in," Noctis murmured. "I'll warp-strike one, you shoot at the other. If you can get it in the head, even better."  
  
There was still so much about this plan that he didn't like, but Prompto summoned his gun anyway. "I'll try my best. Just don't get dead, okay?"  
  
Noctis smirked and nodded. "Okay, I won't. You too."  
  
The quarry was full of small mountains of dirt and rock, some only as tall as their waists while crouching, and some big enough to cover them completely. They made their way over to a particular mound nearer to the coeurls, crouching behind it. It just say reached past the top of Noctis's hair while they squatted, and so remained a good place to keep an eye on the two creatures as they waited for the right opportunity to strike.  
  
One of the coeurls seemed happy to lie down, curled up like a regular cat. Its companion was almost pacing, sniffing at the ground curiously, as if it had picked up a scent and was searching for something. It turned towards the quarry wall nearest to it, just opposite of Prompto and Noctis, and continued following its nose, starting to step a little more gingerly the further it went.  
  
_Huh, that's kinda weird_ , Prompto thought, peering over the mound they were hiding behind. The coeurl didn't seem to want to approach the wall any further, almost as if it was spooked by something.  
  
Noctis had moved further to the left of the mound, at the edge of it, his sword summoned and gripped tightly. "On three, okay?" the prince whispered.  
  
Prompto nodded, swallowing and readjusting his grip on the gun. He moved to the other side of the mound until he could take aim at the sleeping coeurl, slowing his breathing so that his hands would be steadier.  
  
"One," Noctis shifted a little further, no longer shielded by the mound now, and he turned slightly in preparation, getting ready to throw his sword.  
  
_Damn it, this is crazy_ , Prompto thought.  _This is so gonna end badly. I just know it._  
  
Still, he tightened his grip, readying his finger on the trigger, and he held his breath. He would lecture the others on the dangers of splitting up later.  
  
"Two—"  
  
" _Kweh!_ "  
  
Noctis glared at him, and Prompto winced as another chocobo noise erupted from his pocket, indicating a second new text message. He quickly fumbled for his phone, turning it to silent, but the damage had already been done. It hadn't been a terribly loud sound, but this area was so quiet and coeurls had those big ears, so of _course_ they were instantly aware of the two of them, and they just _had_ to be in plain sight at the exact moment, didn't they?  
  
"I am _so_ gonna kill you for this later," Noctis hissed. He rose to his feet and slowly backed away as the two coeurls started to stalk towards them.  
  
"I'm _sorry_ ," Prompto hissed back. "How was I supposed to know we'd end up sneaking around monsters? I bet you haven't even turned your phone on silent, either."  
  
As if wanting to confirm his theory, Noctis's phone let out a little jingle in his pocket. He glared at Prompto again, as if it was _his_ fault, and Prompto would gloat if he wasn't so aware of the two large creatures looking ready to jump them at any moment.  
  
"Fine," Noctis huffed. "Forget being silent. Let's just kill them."  
  
Everyone moved at once. Prompto shot at the coeurl nearest to him, catching it in one of its hind legs as it lunged towards his friend. Noctis threw his sword towards the other one and warped out of the way of several swiping claws, reappearing behind both coeurls in an instant. Prompto quickly ran around them, sliding along the ground on his way, and he started shooting the same coeurl Noctis was slicing at, trying to make as quick work of this as possible.  
  
It went down surprisingly quickly, especially when Noctis rolled forwards and shoved his sword through its throat. "Yeah!" Prompto cheered. "Nice!"  
  
Noctis grinned. He spun around and started swinging his blade at the other coeurl, taking a slice out of its side as it whirled in a circle. He let out a cry when a huge whisker slammed into his chest, sending him flying backwards into the quarry wall, dust and small loose rocks spilling over his shoulders and tumbling to the ground like mini waterfalls.  
  
"Noct!" Prompto ran towards him, sliding across the ground to dodge another swing of those huge whiskers, letting off a few shots at the coeurl just for good measure. His aim was true, because a bullet struck the coeurl straight through its throat, another in its belly, and a final one went through the side of its skull. With a choked off growl, it collapsed down onto its side and didn't get up again.  
  
Prompto let out a relieved laugh, stumbling the rest of the way over to his friend. He reached Noctis and helped the prince to his feet. "You okay?"  
  
"Sure," Noctis said, looking up with a grimace. "That could have gone a lot smoother, though."  
  
"You're telling me!" He gave his friend a sheepish smile, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Hey, uh, I'm sorry about the whole phone thing. I should have turned it on silent right before we came down here."  
  
Noctis smiled and shook his head. "It's all good. I didn't really give you a lot of time to do that, anyway. Let's just not mention any of that to Ignis or Gladio, okay?"  
  
"Dude, _deal_ ," Prompto grinned. "No way do I want to suffer through _that_ lecture."  
  
Noctis chuckled and shifted on his feet, then frowned. "Hey, uh...does the ground feel weird around here to you?"  
  
Prompto glanced down to the dirt below them, purposefully scuffing his boots and then tapping the ground gently with his heel. "I dunno, maybe? Why?"  
  
"I don't know, just thought something was weird, that's all," Noctis half-turned to look at the wall behind him, to the spot he had collided with just moments before. When he turned back to Prompto, he froze. "You're kidding me."  
  
Prompto stared at him. "What? What is it?"  
  
"Another one."  
  
Prompto looked behind him and, sure enough, there was a third coeurl stalking towards them. "What! Where did this one come from?" Prompto exclaimed and backed away, coming to stand beside Noctis.  
  
"No idea," Noctis muttered. "Must have been hiding behind something."  
  
"That feeling when a coeurl is a better hunter than you," Prompto said, summoning his gun once more.  
  
Noctis chuckled, but then he summoned his sword and straightened his stance when the coeurl sped up. "Here we go!"  
  
The coeurl charged towards them and leapt. They both rolled in opposite directions, watching as its huge body sailed over them and skidded along the dirt as it landed, just barely avoiding a crash landing into the wall, dust kicking up everywhere around it. It swung its body around, the whiskers flinging towards them, and Prompto ducked down with a cry. He aimed his gun and shot at it, a bullet grazing one of its hind legs, another taking a chunk out of a whisker, and the coeurl swung at him again with a vicious snarl. He couldn't dodge this time, it moved too fast for him to keep up. His breath was knocked out of him as a whisker caught him and flung him sideways into the wall. He grunted, feeling dirt and rocks dislodge under his weight. He thought he felt the wall move where his shoulder was pressed against it.  
  
Noctis flung his blade at the coeurl with a yell. The weapon buried into its side and the creature let out a roar that echoed around them. The prince warped to it and the sudden weight had them both toppling over, towards Prompto.  
  
The sudden shaking below them had him realizing that something really _was_ wrong with the ground here, and Prompto could only take a second to think about that before the dirt was giving way beneath them entirely. The three of them were suddenly toppling downwards _into_ the ground, into the wall, into the _dark_ , grunting as they slid down a slope and banged into rocks and each other, eventually coming to a stop when they reached a flat surface.  
  
Prompto's head smacked the ground and he blinked against the stars in his eyes and the ringing in his ears. "Oh, oh _gods_ , what happened?"  
  
"No idea," Noctis groaned out from somewhere. "But this thing just ain't giving up."  
  
Sure enough, the coeurl was scrambling to its feet and lunging at Noctis, claws swiping, teeth snarling, a silhouetted figure against Noctis's flashlight. Prompto groaned and stumbled upright, reaching down to turn his own flashlight on before trying to take aim. If he could just get it in the head, if it would just stay still long enough—  
  
The coeurl lunged again, slamming into Noctis this time, knocking him further away and down towards the ground. He took the opportunity, not wanting to wait any longer, not willing to let his best friend fall any further into danger. Prompto fired. Noctis swung his sword.  
  
The bullet hit its mark, straight into the back of the coeurl's head. The sword swung upwards and buried itself straight into its heart. The coeurl collapsed forwards onto Noctis as he hit the ground with a loud thud.  
  
There was a strange noise, a loud clicking that echoed around them, and smoke suddenly exploded into the area ahead, completely obscuring Noctis and the coeurl, giving Prompto only a brief glimpse of the familiar sparkle of a weapon disappearing before his friend was swallowed up into the gas. Noctis's flashlight cut out, whether because of the smoke or the coeurl or something else, he wasn't sure, but it didn't help to ease his fears.  
  
Prompto backed up and covered his mouth with one hand, cupping it slightly so that his voice wouldn't be too muffled. "Noct!" he yelled. "Oh shit, please don't be dead! _Noct_!"  
  
The smoke was such a strange colour. A dark, unsightly green, and good gods, it _stank_. Prompto coughed and retched against the smell, grateful that he hadn't been anywhere near as close, hoping that whatever it was wasn't poisonous. Noctis could be dying over there, swallowed up by the green stuff, and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.  
  
"Noct!" he yelled again. It was horribly silent now, too silent, like Noctis could be _dead_ silent. "Come on, buddy, answer me!"  
  
It was a few minutes until the green smoke began to clear, thinning away into nothingness. Prompto gagged against the lingering stink of it and walked forwards, cautious in case any more gas decided to shoot out from nowhere, or anything _else_ for that matter. What if there was something else down here with them, like a daemon or, gods forbid, even _more_ coeurls? But no, he couldn't _hear_ anything, no random scuttling, no snarls, just his footsteps and his own breathing speeding up with panic.  
  
"Noct?" he called out.  
  
There. The coeurl lay a few feet or so in front of him and, below it, a black shape that remained horribly still. Prompto's heart lurched to his throat and he lunged forwards, shoving at the coeurl until its body rolled over and collapsed to the side, revealing the body underneath it.  
  
The body of a _child_ , laying just where Noctis should have landed.  
  
Prompto froze. What the hell? He moved his jacket so that his flashlight could shine over the kid, taking in his appearance, and he suddenly felt a slight bubble of hysterical laughter building up in his chest. The boy appeared to be dressed in complete black; black jeans, black sneakers, a black hoodie with short sleeves. His face was round and pale, and his choppy hair was as dark as his clothes, flopping into his eyes and fanning out on the ground below him.  
  
It might have been nearly ten years since he had seen this face, but he would recognize it _anywhere_.  
  
"Oh _what_ the hell," Prompto groaned, then crouched down. He touched the boy's - _Noctis, it was Noctis and he was a freaking kid!_ \- throat and felt for a pulse, relief nearly making him double over when he found it there, steady and strong. Now that he was close enough, he could see the kid's chest rising and falling.  
  
So he was alive, thank the gods for that. Noctis was _alive_. He was a kid, _somehow_ , but at least he'd be able to wake up and complain about it.  
  
Although, how would they go about fixing this? The four of them had had numerous ailments and effects inflicted on them since they had started out on this journey, but they had never come across something like _this_. Prompto reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, feeling a stab of disappointment at the lack of signal down here. "Okay, Noct, it'd be great if you could wake up right about now," he said. He reached out and took a hold of a shoulder, surprise going through him once more. Noctis was so _small_ as a child. Of course he was, he was a kid, but he was just so—he was _tiny_.  
  
Noctis groaned, eyes squeezing further shut before they cracked open a little. Prompto grinned in relief. "That's it, buddy," he said. "Let me see those eyes. Gotta check you're completely okay."  
  
Noctis's eyes flew open.  
  
"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa," Prompto held his hands up as the boy scrambled backwards. His small hand knocked into the dead coeurl at his side and he jumped as if he had been burned, looking at its body in the dim light with widening eyes. He choked out a gasp, his hand slapping over his mouth as he turned and shifted backwards into the nearest wall, sneakers scraping along the stone noisily. His small shoulders moved rapidly as he gasped for breath. Prompto frowned, beyond confused, and he could feel his mouth hanging open as he stared. "Dude, what's going on?"  
  
Noctis's eyes darted around wildly, head moving this way and that, but his gaze always snapped straight back to Prompto, as if he didn't quite want to let him out of his sight. If he didn't know any better, he would say that Noctis was _frightened_ of him. The prince's eyes darted over to the coeurl again, as if expecting it to jump up at any moment. "Don't worry," Prompto told him. "It's definitely dead. We killed it."  
  
Noctis looked at him again, eyes wide.  
  
He shuffled forward, then hesitated when the kid - _not a kid, this is Noct_ \- flinched. "Noct?" he asked. "Come on, man, tell me what's going on."  
  
Noctis stared at him for a long moment, and then, very gently, he said, "Who are you?"  
  
Prompto's blood ran cold, and for a minute he could only stare, dumbfounded. "What?"  
  
"Who are you?" Noctis repeated, a lot stronger this time. His voice was so much higher pitched than normal, and Prompto would laugh if he wasn't on the verge of freaking out. Noctis squared his shoulders and tried to draw himself up even further, but the effect wasn't really that great considering how small he still was and how those large eyes and that floppy hair made him look more like a cuddly toy than anything else. "Where are we?"  
  
"I—" Prompto glanced around, at the dark stone walls, at the shadowed areas where his flashlight couldn't reach - _gods, please don't let there be anything hiding away in here with us_ \- and then he glared at his friend. "Dude, this isn't funny."  
  
Noctis glared back, although his expression looked genuinely angry. "You're damn right it isn't funny," the prince snapped. There was a faint tremor in his voice. "Who _are_ you? What do you want from me? Is this a kidnapping?"  
  
_Kidnapping! Hell no, this isn't happening_. "It's me," Prompto pointed at himself frantically, jabbing himself in the chest. "It's Prompto. You know, your best bud?"  
  
"Never heard of you."  
  
"Dude, this is a joke right? Please tell me this is a joke." Panic was starting to seep into his voice, but Noctis either didn't notice or didn't care. Instead, his eyes stayed hard and wary, hostile even, and Prompto found a chill running down his spine from it. He had been on the receiving end of many glares from the prince before, but it had never been like _this_ , it had never been so genuine. He dug in his pocket for his phone again, meaning to call Ignis or Gladio, and cursed when he remembered that there was no signal down here. Prompto stared down at the screen, an idea striking him, and he quickly brought up Noctis's contact details, turning the phone to show the screen to the kid. "See?" Prompto said. "If I'm not your friend, how come I have your phone details?"  
  
Noctis looked _severely_ unimpressed.  
  
"No?" Prompto felt his shoulders slump. If not his phone, then maybe...  
  
He looked around, hoping Noctis's phone hadn't disappeared with his outfit - _and his sword and, oh yeah, his grown up body_ \- and he found himself grinning when he saw it lying a foot or so away. He lunged for it instantly and sat back, going through it until he found his own contact details, then showed the prince. "See? You have me listed in your phone."  
  
Noctis stared at the screen, then looked at him blankly. "This isn't my phone," he said. "I've never seen this thing before."  
  
"But—hey, it's got your other contacts in too, you know?"  
  
"Yeah, because it's not like you couldn't have easily copied them from my _real_ phone to back up your story."  
  
"Dude, _seriously_?" Prompto yelped. Noctis flinched back again, eyes darting away, and Prompto finally began to realize the gravity of the situation. "You really have no idea who I am?"  
  
"Nope," Noctis replied. The prince watched him carefully, body tense as if ready for a fight, and Prompto hoped to all the Astrals that it wouldn't come to that. He was quite confident that he could overpower the prince while he was in _this_ particular condition, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to the idea. Noctis was clearly frightened of him, even if he was trying his best not to show it, and any sort of struggle might traumatize him further.  
  
_This can't be happening._ It might have been easy to deal with if Noctis had just been transformed into a child, but to lose his memories as well? This wasn't good.   
  
Prompto bit his lip. He needed Ignis and Gladio. They were probably either going to flip out or laugh their asses off at this, or, more likely, they were going to blame Prompto and kick his ass for getting the prince into this situation, whether it was his fault or not. It didn't matter, though, because he needed the backup. The problem was, if Noctis had no idea who he was, would he still remember the others? Would he trust them? Would he agree to go and see them or would that just make him even more wary? Could he convince Noctis that he was safe and with friends?  
  
Could he convince him that he was supposed to be a twenty-year-old instead of a _child_? _  
  
_ "Noct—"  
  
"Noctis."  
  
Prompto blinked. "What?"  
  
"My _name_ is Noctis," the little prince said. "Only certain people can call me Noct. _You_ aren't one of them."  
  
Oh. Yeah, okay, _that_ stung, but he guessed it was to be expected. Prompto knew of only a small handful of people that could call the prince by his nickname. He had been included in that group for years now after having earned that particular right a few months into their friendship, but if the prince couldn't remember who he was, then it made sense that he no longer had that privilege. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though.  
  
"Noctis," Prompto said slowly, and it felt weird rolling off his tongue. "What's the last thing you remember?"  
  
Noctis stared at him, then shrugged. "Math class."  
  
"Okay. If you were just in math, then how do you think you ended up here?" Prompto watched the prince think about it. "Don't you think your teachers would have noticed if I had kidnapped you from school?"  
  
"Maybe you hit my head and it happened after school," Noctis said. "My dad says your memory is tricky like that. If you hit your head, you can forget things." The prince glared at him then. "You do know my dad's the King, right?"  
  
_Oh gods_ , Prompto swallowed past a sudden lump in his throat and quickly looked away. If he had needed any further confirmation that his best friend wasn't actually screwing with him, then this was it. It had been a month since the destruction of Insomnia and, while Noctis was dealing with his grief a little better now, the death of his father was still very much a raw wound. He wouldn't be bringing the King's name into a prank this soon.  
  
"What's the matter?" there was a new strength to Noctis's voice now. "Didn't you know who you kidnapped? Scared now that you know the King is gonna come after you?"  
  
Prompto squeezed his eyes shut. They had to get out of here. He couldn't deal with this on his own, or he'd end up blurting out something horrible to this kid in a moment of panic. "Look," he said and winced at how strangled his voice sounded. "I get it, you don't trust me, and that's okay. But we need to get out of here, okay? We need some help with this one, our friends will help." Ignis would know what to do, he would know how to explain everything to this younger version of the prince.  
  
Noctis raised an eyebrow. "Our friends?"  
  
"Yeah, Ignis and Gladio—"  
  
"Ignis?" Noctis's voice was sharper this time, tinged with panic, and he jerked upright. "You've got Ignis?"  
  
"Wait, so you remember Ignis, but not me?" Prompto couldn't help the small twinge of hurt, although, logically, he knew it was stupid. Ignis and Noctis had known each other _long_ before Prompto had worked up his nerve to talk to the prince. "Yeah, Ignis is with us."  
  
Noctis's breaths were shaky again, his bottom lip trembling, but he glared fiercely anyway. "I swear to all the gods, if you've hurt him—"  
  
"Hurt him? Dude, he's gonna kick my _ass_ for this, you—" Prompto stopped and realized his error. Noctis, _this_ Noctis, couldn't be more than twelve at the most. That meant that, in his head, in his version of events, Ignis would also be a lot younger than he really was. So to him, Prompto would be guilty of not only kidnapping him, but of kidnapping his friend too.  
  
Oh _damn it_ , what a mess.  
  
Prompto sighed. "Look, let's get outta here, okay?" he pointed towards his right, towards the slope they had tumbled down earlier. "We're gonna have to climb that to get back up to the surface. Do you think you can do that? And then we can go and see Ignis."  
  
Noctis looked at him, then looked at the slope. "Ignis is up there?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
The prince turned to stare back at him, silent for a long time. Then he nodded slowly. "Okay."  
  
Prompto felt like an asshole. It was probably the thought of going to see his supposedly kidnapped friend that had suddenly made him so compliant, and he _hated_ the idea of using that over Noctis. He could explain it to him, could tell the little prince that Ignis wasn't the same anymore, that he was a giant twenty-two year old man, but that would most likely end up in completely making himself untrustworthy.  
  
But then, how would Noctis feel once he saw the real Ignis and Prompto didn't warn him of what to expect? Would he recognize an older Ignis? Or would he feel tricked and they would lose any opportunity of gaining his trust?  
  
Prompto sighed, made sure their phones were secure and safe in his pocket, and they made their way to the slope to start climbing. There was only one way to find out how this would end, and he had a sinking feeling that it was going to be one hell of a shitstorm no matter what he would do.  
  
_I freaking_ knew _splitting up was a bad idea!  
  
  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know coeurls are harder to take down in game but meh ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Feel free to talk to me at tumblr! ivorydice.tumblr.com


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been using campnanowrimo as an excuse to get some work done on this story, but I figured I'd upload this chapter now because it's actually been a while since I updated this and I feel bad about that. I'm a little insecure about this chapter, but whatever, I hope you enjoy it anyway!
> 
> Thank you for all the comments/kudos/etc so far! It means a lot! You guys are awesome! <3
> 
> (As usual, no beta, so I might come back and edit this later. Feel free to point out any mistakes!)  
> 

  
“You know, I’m beginning to think this was a mistake,” Gladio said, frowning down at his phone.  
  
Ignis let out a sigh and pulled his glasses off, taking a small cloth from his pocket to wipe the lenses with. How dust managed to get on the _inside_ of his glasses, he would never know. “No response from the others, I take it?”  
  
“None,” Gladio answered. “I texted them, what, twenty minutes ago? Maybe even longer?”  
  
“We’ve been separated for no more than an hour, what could they have _possibly_ gotten into in that amount of time?”  
  
Gladio stared at him with a single raised eyebrow. “You do realize we’re talking about Noct and Prompto here, right?”  
  
He had a good point. In fact, the younger two of their group probably didn’t even need an hour to get themselves into trouble, not if they put their minds to it. Lock them in an empty room for ten minutes and they could still find some way to cause a disaster. “Have you tried calling either one of them?”  
  
“Yeah, it just keeps going straight to voicemail. Think they turned their phones off?”  
  
“Perhaps,” Ignis frowned. Something about that didn’t sit quite right with him. They _knew_ not to turn their phones off, it was a decision they had all come to an agreement upon once they had found out about Insomnia’s fall and Magitek Troopers had started dropping out of the sky every five minutes. Even Noctis had thought it was a good idea when, under any normal circumstances, he would have made a point to keep his phone off just for the principle of it.  
  
So if either one of those fools had turned their phones off, and after they had split up of all things, then Ignis was going to have some _very_ strong words with them later.  
  
“It could simply be put down to bad reception,” Ignis suggested. “We are a little in the middle of nowhere, after all.”  
  
Gladio shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe. It’s been pretty fine so far.”  
  
That was true, it _had_ been, and while poor reception being behind their companions’ sudden silence was a comforting thought, it wasn’t much in the face of so many negative scenarios that could have taken place instead.  
  
“What do you think?” Gladio stared at him, and, while he seemed as calm and casual as ever, there was a growing hint of concern in his eyes. “Should we turn back, retrace their steps?”  
  
It never hurt to be cautious. Ignis nodded. “It might be for the best—” he jumped a little when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out, raising his eyebrows at Gladio once he saw the name on the screen. “It’s Prompto.”  
  
Gladio snorted. “Damn it, he couldn’t have called me back? Those little shits.”  
  
Ignis swiped his thumb along the screen and held the phone up to his ear. “Prompto?”  
  
“ _Finally!_ ” Prompto exclaimed. “ _Dude, we’ve got a big problem over here. Big!_ ”  
  
“What kind of problem?” Ignis frowned and looked at Gladio, watching as the Shield instantly straightened and tensed, eyes darkening with worry.  
  
“ _The kind where Noct is a freaking_ child!”  
  
Ignis closed his eyes and sighed, suddenly feeling years beyond his age. Those two would be the death of him one of these days, he was sure of it. “Prompto, I understand that he can be a little difficult sometimes, but I’d much appreciate it if I wasn’t dragged into the middle of whatever petty squabble the two of you have had _this_ time—”  
  
“ _What? No, no! I mean he’s_ actually _a child. He’s been turned into a kid somehow and he has_ no _idea who I am and_ — _hey. Hey, what? No, what are you doing? Noct! Nonononono, come back here_ —”  
  
“ _Help!_ ” another voice screamed down the phone, a little more distant and a _lot_ more higher pitched. “ _Someone help me! I’ve been kidnapped!_ ”  
  
“ _Noct,_ Noctis, _for the last time, I_ haven’t _kidnapped you, we’re gonna go and see Ignis_ —”  
  
“ _Ignis isn’t here, you liar! You lied! Let go of me, get off me! Somebody help!_ ”  
  
Ignis could feel his eyebrows climbing higher and higher as the conversation went on. He knew that voice. Granted, it had been a _very_ long time since he had heard it, but he knew it all the same. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? Was this just another practical joke of theirs? “Prompto?” he said, trying to listen past the scuffling noises and yelling coming down the phone.  
  
“ _Yeah, Iggy!_ ” Prompto said, sounding a little breathless. “ _I’ve got him, but I don’t wanna freak him out any further. I need you guys._ ”  
  
“Where are you?”  
  
“ _We’re in some quarry. It’s not far off from where we split up, just head in the direction we went in and you’ll come across it._ ”  
  
“All right, we’re on our way. Try to keep things under control until then.”  
  
“ _Gotcha_.”  
  
Ignis hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket, shooting Gladio a quick glance. The Shield looked beyond confused and ready for answers, but, unfortunately, Ignis had none to give him. How could Noctis have been turned into a _child_? Was that even possible? He half-hoped that this _was_ simply another one of their pranks, the product of bored imaginations that were tired of searching around. He could explain the high pitched voice as either one of them mimicking a child, or perhaps they had found another ridiculous app to play around with on their phones, one that could distort how they sounded.  
  
That would make sense, if it wasn’t for the fact that there had been genuine fear in that child’s voice, and Prompto had seemed a little out of sorts himself. If this _was_ a prank, then they had both found a way to greatly improve their performances.  
  
“Well?” Gladio said eventually.  
  
Ignis shook his head. “If this isn’t another one of their jokes, then either Prompto has abducted a child from somewhere, or Noct has been turned into one.”  
  
Gladio reeled back, frowning like he didn’t quite understand the words. “What? This has to be a joke, right?”  
  
“I’m not entirely sure myself. I guess there’s only one way to find out.”  
  
  
~ &~  
  
  
“Okay,” Prompto sighed, a small spark of relief shooting through him. Maybe things would start looking up now. “They’re on their way.”  
  
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized that it was definitely the _wrong_ thing to say, because this child version of Noctis looked tense again, even more so than he had been a few moments ago. He looked ready to bolt again, trying to dislodge Prompto’s grasp on his arm. “ _Who_ is on their way?” he hissed.  
  
“Ignis,” Prompto replied, wincing even as he said it. Would he ever stop messing things up with this kid? At this rate, Noctis was _never_ going to trust him. “And Gladio.”  
  
“Gladio?”  
  
“Yeah, you know, Gladio. Gladiolus Amicitia?” There was a strange flash across Noctis’s face and in his eyes, and Prompto perked up a little. “Wait, do you know him?”  
  
Noctis looked away, his gaze drifting towards the hole where the ground and wall had collapsed from underneath them during the fight with the coeurls. It hadn’t been too hard to climb back up for either of them - although it had left them significantly more dirty and Prompto prayed for a shower opportunity in the near future - and it had almost seemed as if Noctis was coming around to him on the journey upwards. He had certainly seemed a little amused at Prompto’s constant griping and moaning. It had been a trick, however, Noctis merely biding his time until he could get an opportunity to try and run away. He was a smart kid, this one.  
  
Prompto wondered if he was _still_ biding his time.  
  
“Well?” he said after a moment, when Noctis still hadn’t answered him.  
  
“I know his name,” Noctis murmured. “That’s all.”  
  
“Well, he’s your Shield, you know?” Prompto tried smiling, hoping it came across as friendly and not too strained. He usually had no problem talking to Noctis, whether it was friendly banter or something a lot more personal. Now, however, with that hostile gaze fixed on him, he felt nervous, antsy. It was like being twelve years old all over again and trying to pluck up the courage to talk to a rather quiet and intimidating prince who spoke to no one.  
  
Noctis was staring at him, but quickly moved his gaze back to the hole. “Noct—” Prompto moved his hand from the boy’s arm up to his shoulder, trying to be gentle and offer comfort, but Noctis sucked in a breath and flinched, his eyes squeezing shut briefly. Prompto bit his lip and slowly pulled his hand away. “Hey. I’m not gonna hurt you, you know?”  
  
“No,” Noctis said. “I _don’t_ know.”  
  
“I was telling the truth before. I really _am_ your friend, we’ve been friends for years. Something happened to you down there—”  
  
“I was turned into a kid. Right. Got it.” Noctis rolled his eyes and fixed an unimpressed stare on Prompto. His bravado would have been believable, had it not been for the way his hands were still trembling and clenching. “Do you know how _stupid_ that sounds?”  
  
Prompto stared, mouth open. “But it’s the _truth_! Dude, I know it sounds weird, I _know_ it does, but you’re supposed to be twenty years old, not—not _this_. How else do you think you ended up down there with me?”  
  
“I don’t know, maybe you _kidnapped me_ —”  
  
“I didn’t kidnap you!” Prompto said, then winced, because Noctis looked nervous again. Why was he so bad at this? He liked to think that he was good with children, but with Noctis he just kept messing everything up. Maybe it was because he was still so focused on how things were _supposed_ to be, or maybe it was because this situation was just _so damn weird._ Of course, it didn’t help that, even as a child, Noctis was unbelievably stubborn.  
  
Damn it, where the hell were Ignis and Gladio? They would know what to do, right? _Please hurry_ , he thought. _Please get here before I screw this up for good._  “Look,” Prompto said out loud, trying to soften his voice, holding his hands up to try and show that he wasn’t a threat. “I’m not trying to scare you. I really don’t want to, and I don’t want to hurt you. I’m your _friend_ , Noct—Noctis. And if there’s anything I can do to _prove_ that to you—”  
  
“You can let me go.”  
  
Prompto grimaced. “Okay, anything but _that_.”  
  
Noctis fell silent, eyes downcast. Despite his obvious attempts to still appear strong and unfazed, there was a definite air of _misery_ surrounding him. It hurt to see him like this, so small and sombre, as if he was all alone.  
  
An idea struck him. “Here,” Prompto said. He pulled Noctis’s phone out of his pocket, holding it out to him, wiggling it when the prince merely eyed it as if it was poisonous and would bite him at any moment. “Here, take it. It’s got signal and it works. Would a bad guy give you a phone that you could use to call for help?”  
  
Noctis frowned, perplexed, but he took the phone, holding it with both hands. He played around with it for a moment, his fingers tapping and swiping the screen, before he quickly shoved it into his pocket. “Thanks,” he mumbled, still looking confused.  
  
Prompto nodded and grinned. “You’re welcome.” It looked like he might finally be getting through to him. “You don’t have to trust me right now, and you don’t even have to like me. But just...let’s work together for a little while, okay? I’ll find a way to prove to you that you’re supposed to be big, and then we’ll find a way to get you back to normal and this will just be another thing we’ll laugh about by this time next week. Yeah?”  
  
Noctis’s eyes were still wide and suspicious, but he nodded slowly. “Okay, I guess.”  
  
“Our friends, Ignis and Gladio? They’ll be here any second, and they’ll help us figure it all out,” Prompto winced again, reaching a hand up to scratch at his hair, dreading having to say this next part, because what if it just messed everything up? But surely it was better to admit it now than to surprise the prince with it later. “They’re kinda big, though. They’re big guys, I mean, way taller than me, but they’re big softies really. So just...try not to get too worried about that, okay?”  
  
Noctis nodded, but his eyes were fixed on the hole again. “Did you hear that?”  
  
Prompto froze, listening, but he couldn’t hear anything. “No?”  
  
“You didn’t hear that?” Noctis looked at him, his eyes wide, and he seemed far more nervous now, his voice strained. “I just heard something down there. There’s something else down there.”  
  
Oh gods, not another coeurl, surely. Hadn’t they had enough of those beasts? Hadn’t they been through enough today?  
  
“Please,” Noctis said. “I don’t want one of those things to get me. Please, if you’re my friend, then you’ll check to see if we’re safe.”  
  
“Yeah, okay,” Prompto breathed out, nodding. He tensed and stepped closer to the hole, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the panic in Noctis’s voice - he would pay money to never hear that tone ever again after today - and he flexed his hand, ready to pull his gun out of the armoury when he needed to. He would get it ready now, but he didn’t want to take any chances that it would make him appear even more untrustworthy if he had a weapon on him, that it would only unsettle Noctis even further.  
  
“Stay back,” Prompto said, only briefly looking over his shoulder at the little prince standing behind him. “If there _is_ something there, then I don’t want it getting anywhere near you.”  
  
There was a moment of silence, and then, “Okay.”  
  
_Wait a minute_ — _  
_ _  
_ _Standing behind him?_  
  
He was stupid, he was _so freaking stupid_ , and he only had a moment to realize that fact before Noctis’s hands were suddenly slamming into his back, shoving him towards the hole. The prince wasn’t very strong, but Prompto was more surprised than anything else, and it was that surprise that had him stumbling forwards. “Noct, no!” he yelled and then he was in the hole again, falling and scraping against the dirt, only distantly registering the sound of small footsteps making a run for it up on the ground level.  
  
_Damn it!_ Prompto managed to flip himself over and dug his hands and boots into the dirt before he could slide down any further, adrenaline giving him the speed to climb back up within seconds. He stumbled back to his feet, looking around desperately, heart pounding in his chest, and—there. Noctis was climbing up the bank they had used to descend the quarry in the beginning, before this whole mess had begun. Prompto took off for it instantly. “Noct!” he shouted. “Don’t do this, it’s not safe out here!”  
  
Noctis wasn’t listening. His sneakers slid on the dirt a little, tiny rocks tumbling down, but he reached the top, pulling himself up and running away from the edge. Prompto cursed as he finally reached the bank, clinging to rocks and dirt as he dragged himself up. If Noctis got away—if he managed to escape—no. It couldn’t happen, he wouldn’t let it happen. Noctis was way too vulnerable right now, there was no doubting that he would get hurt sooner or later should he manage to get away.  
  
Of course, this wouldn’t be happening if Prompto hadn’t fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book. He had just been so eager for Noctis to trust him, he had been so eager to prove himself, to keep him safe. He had let his guard down for a second and had forgotten that he was still dealing with a frightened child who was under the impression that he had been kidnapped. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise. Noctis had tried running before. As soon as Prompto had been on the phone to Ignis, Noctis had tried to bolt, had tried to get away from him, so why had he assumed that that urge would be completely gone now?  
  
_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ If Noctis got away and got _hurt_ because of that—Prompto would never forgive himself.  
  
He pulled himself up the bank and saw a black shape in the trees, further away now. “Noct, stop!” he ran towards the figure and nearly jumped out of his skin as two shapes approached him at a sprint from the main path. _Gods, damn it! Better late than never!_ “Ignis, Gladio! This way, he’s making a run for it!”  
  
Ignis and Gladio didn’t even pause, they followed him as he led the way into the trees to the side of the main path. “Think he saw us and got scared,” Gladio said, and that explained why Noctis hadn’t simply taken the path away from the quarry. “So, he’s _actually_ a kid?”  
  
Prompto fought back branches that were trying to slap him in the face. “Yeah,” he bit out. “He’s a kid and he’s terrified. We can’t let him get away.”  
  
“Certainly not!” Ignis said. “I thought I told you to keep control over the situation?”  
  
“Well, I’m sorry!” Prompto snapped. “He shoved me down a hole. Took me by surprise. Where were _you_ guys anyway, you sure took your time—”  
  
“Can we just focus on finding him first, and then argue about it later?” Gladio interrupted.  
  
That was a fair enough request. Prompto nodded. “Noctis!” he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. He wondered if it was even worth shouting for him at this point, if the kid would even listen to them now. If he had seen Ignis and Gladio running towards him, that might have frightened him even further, and wasn’t _that_ just a great thought? “Noctis!”  
  
Ignis and Gladio called out for him too, their voices echoing around them but remaining unanswered. Prompto felt a wave of anxiety wash over him like freezing cold water. He couldn’t see Noctis anywhere, no matter which way he turned. He had lost track of the small black shape, and he couldn’t hear him anymore.  
  
They had lost him.  
  
  
~ &~  
  
  
Noctis’s heart was going to burst out of his chest, it was pounding so hard. It seemed so hard to breathe, gasps ripping from his lungs painfully, and they seemed loud to his own ears as he stumbled through the forest, branches clawing at him and scratching at his face, tangling in his hair, trying to trip him up every now and then. He had no idea where he was going, but surely anything was better than sticking around for whatever that guy had planned for him.  
  
This couldn’t be happening, _it just couldn’t be happening._ He had _just_ been in class, he had been safe in school, surrounded by kids and teachers, and now _this_? It was just too crazy. He had gone from writing in his math book to running for his life in such a short span of time, he had trouble keeping up with everything.  
  
He had to wonder if he was doing the right thing, running away like this. He had been told that he should never trust strangers, not until he was told otherwise. There were far too many dangers, too many things that could go wrong. There were people out there who would kidnap him for their own personal gain, there were people who would kidnap him to hurt his dad.  
  
That guy had seemed almost genuine, as if he _actually_ cared about Noctis, but it could always be a trick, a way to get him to feel safe when, really, he wasn’t. So he couldn’t take any chances. If he could get away from his kidnapper, then he wouldn’t be able to use Noctis, he wouldn’t be able to hurt his dad.  
  
He had no idea where he was or where he was going, but maybe he could find a way to get back home. It couldn’t be that hard, right? If he just kept running then he had to end up outside of the forest eventually, right? Except, the trees were neverending, surrounding him from all sides, almost as if more were popping up when he wasn’t looking. It didn’t help that he had had to switch directions every now and then, hoping to lose the voices he could hear calling his name. There were more men now, there seemed to be three of them, unless even more had shown up after he had ran for the trees. So that guy had brought some friends along. _Great_.  
  
He had almost fallen for it. He had almost allowed himself to trust that guy, but it had all been a lie, hadn’t it? Saying that he was Noctis’s friend, that he was supposed to be a grown up. It was so stupid, did he honestly think Noctis would fall for something like that?  
  
_Ignis_. Noctis slowed down, taking a moment to hide behind a tree and catch his breath. Did that guy really have Ignis? Was his friend out here too? _Oh gods, what if I’ve just abandoned Ignis?_  
  
He knew what the older boy would say. He knew Ignis wouldn’t care that he had abandoned him, in fact he would outright _demand_ that Noctis run away to save his own skin even if Noctis _hated_ the idea. Could he run and find a safe place, and then find a way to save Ignis? Would those guys _hurt_ Ignis?  
  
That was if they even had him in the first place. It could have just been a lie to get Noctis to trust that guy, or to get him to behave himself at least.  
  
But he had mentioned Gladiolus Amicitia’s name, had said they were friends. That didn’t make any sense. While Noctis knew that Gladiolus would become his Shield one day, that they would start training together soon, Noctis hadn’t even _met_ him. There was no way an outsider would know of him yet, was there? And why would that guy say they were friends? Gladiolus and Ignis and the two of them?  
  
_Prompto_. Hadn’t he heard that name before? There was a kid in his class called Prompto, wasn’t there? Quiet, with glasses and blond hair - the same blond that that guy had - but he was a _kid_ , not an adult.  
  
Unless…  
  
What was it he had said while he was on the phone? “ _He’s been turned into a kid somehow and he has no idea who I am._ ” He had supposedly been talking to Ignis then, had even called him Iggy, and he kept using Noctis’s own nickname. Would kidnappers know about those kinds of things?  
  
_What if you really are supposed to be big?_  
  
No. It was a stupid idea, things like that just didn’t happen in the real world. If they were really serious about kidnapping him, then they would have learned a lot things about him, even the little details, right? And that guy could have just been sticking with his story while he was on the phone, or maybe he was even speaking in code so that Noctis wouldn’t understand what was going on. That was all it was. He was just confused from suddenly being away from home, he was confused from how _crazy_ things were, and that guy’s stupid stories were getting to him.  
  
Home. He wanted to go home.  
  
_Dad._  
  
“Noctis!”  
  
Noctis gasped and leapt to his feet, whirling around. They had caught up with him— _nonono_ — _they had caught up with him_! Noctis clenched his hands and fought to control his breathing, tried to stop his shoulders and chest from heaving as the three men stood still, almost as if they had just been frozen in place.  
  
“Hey,” the blond one - _Prompto_ \- said, hands held up and smiling a little. “Hey, buddy. You scared the _crap_ outta me, man.”  
  
“Holy shit,” the biggest one said, staring at him with wide eyes. Noctis almost shivered. That guy could snap him in half with one hand if he wanted to, and there would be nothing Noctis could do to stop him. The other man didn’t look any less intimidating, tall and broad shouldered and with such a serious stare it felt as if it could pierce right through him.  
  
The man with the glasses took a step towards him, holding a hand out. “Noct—”  
  
“No, don’t come any closer,” Noctis interrupted, taking a step back. “Stay away!”  
  
“Noct, we’re not going to hurt you. You have nothing to fear from us, I swear.”  
  
Noctis shook his head. “Like I’m gonna believe that.”  
  
“Listen, kid,” the big one said. “I know this seems really scary right now, but if you just give us a chance to explain—”  
  
Did they _all_ think he was stupid? Did they think he would fall for their stupid lies? “Explain what?” Noctis snapped, clenching his hands again. His heart was pounding in his chest and he could feel himself shaking, but damn it if he would let them know that. He had to be strong, like his dad. “Explain how you’ve kidnapped me? Or are you gonna say the same stuff as him, that I’m supposed to be an adult?”  
  
Prompto groaned and ran his hands over his face, looking more than a little frustrated. _Good_. “I told you, it’s the truth—”  
  
“I swear, I _swear_ , you’re all gonna get it when my dad finds me.”  
  
It seemed like a good enough threat, it had certainly worked on the blond guy before, when they had been stuck down in that hole together. Sure enough, they all jerked in surprise, Prompto wincing while the other two sent the blond wide-eyed looks, as if they were disturbed by the idea. Almost as if they had no idea at all that they had kidnapped the _prince_. Noctis hated his title at the best of times, hated the attention it got him, but he had to admit that it was pretty useful right now.  
  
The man with the glasses was staring at him with a strange look, almost like he was sad or in pain. He took a step towards Noctis, and he couldn’t help the gasp that escaped him then, the way his body kept jolting whenever the men moved, like lightning bolts of energy shooting through his arms and his legs and telling him to _run_. But he didn’t dare run just yet, not while they were obviously ready for him to do that. He needed to distract them again, like he had before.  
  
The man had frozen. He was holding his hands out now, palms facing Noctis, and he squatted down. “Noct, tell me, how old are you?”  
  
Noctis stared at him. “Does it matter?”  
  
“I’m simply curious, that’s all.”  
  
These guys were either still trying to mess with him, or they were really bad at kidnapping. Why would they take him if they didn’t seem to know _anything_ about him? Well, he might as well play along for now, at least until he could find a way to run. “Ten,” he said after a moment. “I’m ten.”  
  
The man nodded, reaching up to push his glasses further up his nose. “Do you recognize me?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Not even a little?” the man sighed when Noctis shook his head. “But you know me. I’m Ignis.”  
  
Noctis glared at him. “Do you guys really think I’m that stupid? Ignis is _twelve_. You’re not.”  
  
“No, I’m not,” the man said, his voice easy and agreeable, almost soothing. “I haven’t been twelve in a very long time.”  
  
“Stop it!” Noctis yelled. “Stop playing games and let me go!” He had had _enough_ of these men and their stupid stories, still trying to win him over with the same lies. He wasn’t going to believe them and he _wasn’t_ going to go anywhere with them. If only he could find a way to get around them, to get back to that path and try and find a way home. He moved to dash to the right of them, but the blond and the scarred man quickly got in his way. Noctis stumbled backwards again as panic began to take over. If he couldn’t get out of here—if he couldn’t get away—what would they do to him if he couldn’t get away? “Please, just let me go! I won’t even tell my dad what you did. I promise!”  
  
Prompto shuffled on his feet. He almost looked like he was going to cry. “We can’t let you _go_ , Noct—Noctis,” he said. “There’s nowhere to go to, you know?”  
  
The man with the glasses glared at him from over his shoulder and the big man flicked Prompto on the side of his head, earning a surprised yelp. “Not helping, Prom,” the man hissed.  
  
They weren’t looking, all three of them had turned their eyes away, and Noctis seized his opportunity. He turned around and quickly started running again, dashing through the trees, even faster than he had been earlier.  
  
“Noct!” someone yelled.  
  
“Noctis, stop!”  
  
_Keep running, keep running, keep running_. He could hear them somewhere behind him, a small distance away, crashing through the trees, branches breaking underneath their feet. It was a _horrible_ sound and Noctis hadn’t felt this scared in a long time. He darted this way and that, changing directions like he had before, trying his best to lose them. They were fast, and he had no doubts that they would be able to catch up to him in any other circumstances, but he was smaller than they were and could fit past gaps in trees and fallen trunks and rocks, he could duck down under things and get into spaces they definitely couldn’t.  
  
“Noct, come back!”  
  
_Don’t stop, not for anything. Keep running._  
  
Noctis kept running.  
  
Soon enough, their voices were a lot quieter, far more distant, and Noctis felt a spark of triumph amongst the terror and the panic and the need to keep moving. He had done it. He had lost them again.  
  
He slowed down, trying to catch his breath back - gods, his lungs felt like they were _burning_ \- and he took in his new location. He was still surrounded by trees, they were _everywhere_ , but he was on a bank now, the ground to his left sloping downwards rather steeply and climbing upwards on his right.  
  
He much preferred the idea of moving downhill. He was getting far too tired to pull himself up any more slopes and he didn’t think continuing forwards was going to get him anywhere fast. Wouldn’t going downhill mean moving onto more even land, and wouldn’t that mean he could get closer to getting _out_ of the forest? This place had to end eventually, right?  
  
Noctis hesitated, listening carefully. There was a new sound now too, it seemed awfully like running water, and he almost laughed with relief. If there was a stream or a river then he could follow that out of the forest, couldn’t he? It would lead him to somewhere safe, right? He could actually _do_ this, he could get away, he could—  
  
The ground gave way beneath him, wet leaves sliding out from under his foot, twisting it painfully. He could have regained his footing had it not made his knee lock up, sending a spark of pain up through his back, and he lost his balance. Noctis cried out as he toppled over and went crashing down the bank. He kept falling and falling, scraping against rocks and branches and he tried to reach out for something to grab onto, to stop his descent, but it only resulted in scratching his arms and twisting his wrists. He was left slamming into rocks and trees and rolling further down until he finally, _finally_ came to a crash down at the bottom, landing straight into the stream he had heard, his head scraping against one of the rocks.  
  
He pushed himself up into a sitting position instantly, coughing and choking against the water that had gone into his mouth, and he rubbed at his face. He couldn’t help the tears then, he couldn’t stop them as they blurred his vision and burned down his cheeks, feeling his chest clench as sobs clawed their way out of him. Everything _hurt_ , and now he was soaked and covered in even more dirt and scratches, and he just wanted to go _home_ , he wanted his dad, he wanted—  
  
His pocket started vibrating and jingling. Noctis jumped, heart lurching into his throat, before he remembered the phone that that guy had given him. Noctis had just assumed that it had been another trick to try and win him over, that the phone actually didn’t work, but apparently it _did_. He quickly pulled it out, his heart pounding faster when he read the name lit up on the screen, and he instantly answered the call. “Ignis?”  
  
“ _Noct, listen, don’t hang up_ —” It wasn’t Ignis. The voice was far too deep to be his friend, it sounded more like that man with the glasses.  
  
Noctis definitely _wasn’t_ going to listen to him, so he quickly ended the call before going through the menus. It was a little weird to get used to, but it wasn’t too different from his own phone, and soon enough he had the contact list brought up, hoping that there was something in there he could use.  
  
He frowned, and then rubbed his eyes again with one hand, wondering if the water or the tears were making him read things wrong. _Cindy, Cid, Clarus, Cor, Dad, Dave, Gladio, Ignis_ —and the list went on, even including Prompto further down, but it could still be a trick, right? Hadn’t he said so before? Hadn’t he accused that Prompto guy of copying his contacts over to this phone to make his story seem believable?  
  
If this phone had his contacts in, then maybe...It was a long shot, there was always the chance that the numbers were wrong - Ignis’s number was _definitely_ wrong - but some of them could be _right_.  
  
He clicked on _Dad_. There was a moment of silence on the phone, and then a robotic, female voice responded with, “ _We’re sorry, but the number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable_ —” Noctis frowned and hung up, biting his lip. So it wasn’t really his dad’s number? It was just another trick?  
  
He was so very sick of all of these tricks.  
  
He tried calling Clarus but, once again, the number wasn’t available.  
  
Noctis squeezed his eyes shut, hating that they were watering again, and he almost threw the phone into the stream he was still sitting in. His clothes were well and truly soaked through now, but he didn’t dare try to move yet, not until the twinging in his back and knee went away. He sniffed and ran a hand over his eyes, hissing when he felt pain flare up near his eyebrow. He prodded a little at his skin, feeling a scratch along his temple, and when he pulled his hand away his fingers came back wet and bloody.  
  
_Great. Just great._  
  
Noctis sniffed again and hesitated, then pressed the button for Cor, almost holding his breath as he waited and listened.  
  
It was ringing, it was actually ringing and— “ _Cor Leonis speaking_.”  
  
Oh, _gods_. Noctis nearly sobbed with relief. He knew that voice, that was Cor, it was _really_ him. “Cor!”  
  
There was a pause. “ _Hello? Who is this?_ ”  
  
“Cor, it’s me! It’s Noct! I need your help, I’ve been kidnapped by these guys and—”  
  
“ _This is_ — _Prompto, if this is another one of your stupid pranks, then so help me, I will personally_ —”  
  
“What?” Noctis blinked. That was definitely Cor’s voice, he would recognize that stern tone anywhere. Cor knew Prompto? That same guy back there, the one who had kidnapped him and was chasing him down? And Cor thought _he_ was Prompto? Didn’t he recognize his voice? “Cor, it’s _me_! It’s Noctis. You have to help me, I don’t know where I am, and I tried calling my dad and Clarus but I can’t reach them, you’re the only one who can help me. Cor?”  
  
Cor was silent on the other end. Noctis pressed the phone closer to his ear, the edges of it digging into his head painfully, and sure enough he could hear breathing on the other end. So why wasn’t Cor saying anything? “Cor, please!” he said, feeling beyond desperate now. If Cor couldn’t - or _wouldn’t_ \- help him, then he was truly alone out here. “Please, you have to help me, I don’t know when those guys will show up again. I don’t know what to do!”  
  
“ _Noctis?_ ”  
  
“Yeah! It’s me.”  
  
“ _Where are you?_ ”  
  
“I told you, I don’t _know_. In a forest or something. I was just in school and then I woke up with this _guy_ there, and then these two other guys showed up. I’m pretty sure they kidnapped me.”  
  
“ _These men...what did they look like?_ ”  
  
Noctis frowned. Did it matter? “Uh...one blond guy, he called himself Prompto. Do you know him? There’s another one with glasses and another huge guy with a scar on his face.”  
  
There was another pause, and then Cor let out a sigh. “ _All right, listen to me. I’m going to hang up right now_ —”  
  
“No, please, don’t!”  
  
“Listen _, Your Highness. I’m going to hang up, just for a minute or two, and then I will call you right back. All right?_ ”  
  
Noctis bit his lip, wanting to protest more, but he knew there was nothing he could do to stop the man. “Okay. Please, _please_ , don’t take too long. I don’t know how far behind those guys are.”  
  
“ _Just stay right where you are, and keep the phone nearby. I’ll speak with you in a moment._ ” And just like that, the call ended.  
  
Noctis sniffed and lowered the phone, cradling it in his hands. He didn’t want to wait around, he didn’t want to give those men any more time to catch up with him, but if Cor said that it was okay, then he would do it. That man would never put him in danger, he took his job and his duty far too seriously to do anything like that.  
  
There was a crack from somewhere behind him, and Noctis tensed, looking over his shoulder instantly, but there was nothing there. He let out a sigh. It was probably just a branch falling or something, or some little animal scurrying about.  
  
He tossed the phone to the side, letting it land on the grass away from the water, and he started to get to his feet, relief washing over him when there was no more pain. His jeans were soaking and clinging to him, his hoodie too, and he thought he could feel some water sloshing in his sneakers. His foot and leg still felt a little weird to step on, but it wasn’t terrible. He would still be able to run away if he had to.  
  
Cor would find a way to rescue him. He was probably telling his father and the Crownsguard right now, and then they would come and get him and he could put this whole nightmare behind him.  
  
He was making his way over to a rather large rock, hoping to sit down for a moment, when the phone rang again. He checked the name, smiling instantly. “Cor!”  
  
“ _Noctis, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Can you do that?_ ”  
  
Noctis frowned. “Yeah. Sure, I can do that.”  
  
“ _Those men that have been chasing you, their names are Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto. You remember Ignis, don’t you? That’s the man with the glasses._ ”  
  
“No, Ignis is _twelve_ , he’s not—”  
  
“ _Your Highness, what they have been telling you is the truth, you have been transformed into a child when you are supposed to be an adult, just like they are. I promise you, you are not in any danger, not from them. But you_ are _in danger if you run away from them. They can protect you._ ”  
  
Cor never played games. Cor never played tricks on people, and he certainly never lied to Noctis. So was _this_ the truth? Had that Prompto guy been telling him the truth this whole time? It sounded so _weird_ , so stupid, how could he really be a grown up when—  
  
Something moved behind him. Another branch snapped. Noctis gasped and whirled around.  
  
“ _Your Highness? Are you still there?_ ”  
  
Noctis took a step backwards, swallowing past the sudden lump in his throat, chills suddenly running over his skin. Because there, a few feet in front of him, were three...three _monsters_. Like dogs or cats or _something_ , but large and skinny and bony, with razor sharp teeth, large tusks and eyes that were fixed on him like he was their next meal. Hadn’t he seen those things before somewhere? Hadn’t they chased after him once, long ago, in dreams and nightmares, but they couldn’t be _real_ , they couldn’t be _here_ —  
  
“ _Your Highness? Noctis! Answer me._ ”  
  
“Cor…” Noctis whispered into the phone, taking another step back as the three _things_ stalked closer to him. His heart was pounding. He was going to throw up. Could this day really, _really_ get any worse?  
  
Of course it could, of _course_ it could get worse, because those things leapt for him suddenly, fast and snarling and vicious, and Noctis could only scream as he turned around and ran, barely registering Cor’s voice shouting for him down the phone as the monsters chased after him.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to kick/poke/message/prompt me over on tumblr: ivorydice.tumblr.com :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaassss, new update! Although I'm so nervous to post this chapter, and I don't even know why! WHAT. I felt so guilty for that cliffhanger last time, and I don't think I can do anything more to this chapter, so I'm posting it now! (As always, though, I might come back at a later time to edit it, hello perfectionism how ya doing old friend)
> 
> Thank you so so much for all the kudos/comments/etc so far, it makes me so happy! I love you guys! <3

  
In hindsight, Ignis had to admit that splitting up might not have been one of their better ideas, especially with the way their lives had been going as of late. It had definitely meant that they could cover more ground in searching for this hunter’s missing items, and it wasn’t as if this was the first time they had split up on a hunt before. The area had seemed safe enough - it had managed to warrant even Gladio’s approval - but clearly they had misjudged the place severely. Well, either that, or Noctis and Prompto really _didn’t_ know how to keep themselves out of trouble. It was almost as if they were actively looking for it sometimes, wondering what mess they could land themselves in today.  
  
And what a mess they had landed in.  
  
Because now Noctis was a child.  
  
Noctis was a _child_.  
  
It had been a shock to see him, an almost literal blast from the past, as it were. He was so young and _small_ , large eyes and floppy hair, trying to act strong despite the way he kept flinching whenever they so much as breathed around him. And, worst of all, he had no idea who they were. He had no idea who _Ignis_ was. They had all known him for years, Ignis had known him for most of their lives, and yet there hadn’t even been the slightest spark of recognition in those blue eyes. Noctis had had no idea that he was staring at his friends.  
  
Just how were they going to fix this particular mess?  
  
“Noctis!” Prompto yelled again, but the only thing that answered him was an echo of his own voice. He let out a frustrated noise and kicked at the nearest tree. “Damn it! What the hell are we gonna do now?”  
  
Chasing after Noctis had felt like such a terrible idea that Ignis still cursed himself for it. Throughout his entire life, he had never, _not once_ , considered that they would have to hunt their friend down like this, like an _animal_ , and it was only going to frighten the child even further. But what else could they do? It wasn’t as if they could let Noctis get away, not out here and _certainly_ not while he was in this condition. There were too many things that could go wrong, he was far too vulnerable out here. The prince hadn’t even begun any of his training until he was twelve, and so he lacked the necessary skills to defend himself, he wouldn’t be able to fight should he run into any danger. He wouldn’t know how to _evade_ danger entirely.  
  
“I could try calling him,” Gladio suggested after another moment of dreadful silence. His lips were pressed together and his eyes were darting between the trees, shoulders tense as if he wanted to take off to look for the prince again.  
  
Ignis shook his head. “I doubt he’s willing to listen to any of us right now, he’s far too frightened for that.”  
  
“I’m sorry, okay?” Prompto said suddenly, whirling around to face him, and he looked so distraught and guilty that Ignis couldn’t help but take pity on him. “I didn’t mean for him to get away, I didn’t—”  
  
“No one is at fault here,” Ignis said firmly. “We just have to focus on finding him. Before something else does.” His phone rang then. Ignis hurried to look at the screen, praying that it would be Noctis, frowning when he saw who it was instead. “It’s Cor.”  
  
Gladio’s eyebrows shot up. “Talk about bad timing.”  
  
“Should we tell him?” Prompto asked, shifting on his feet nervously.  
  
“Perhaps not, I doubt he’ll enjoy hearing about this,” Ignis said, then he accepted the call and raised the phone to his ear. “Marshal. I’m afraid we’re a little busy at the moment, would you mind if I called you back—”  
  
“ _You wouldn’t happen to be busy hunting down a child, would you?_ ” Cor interrupted.  
  
“I’m sorry?”  
  
“ _I’ve just had a child on the phone with me, sounding rather frantic and claiming to be Prince Noctis. He described three men who were chasing him and they sounded an awful lot like the three of you._ ”  
  
Ignis paused, frowning, and he glanced over at his companions. So Noctis had been reaching out for help. It might not necessarily be a bad thing, perhaps Cor would be useful in all of this. If Noctis was willing to talk and listen to the marshal, then perhaps he could help with convincing the boy that they weren’t his enemies. “We don’t know what’s happened yet,” Ignis said with a sigh, resigned to telling the truth. “Noct has been turned into a child, and it seems as if he has no memories of who we are. He doesn’t recognize us. Unfortunately, that means he ran away at the first moment he got and now we can’t find him.”  
  
“ _Have you tried explaining the situation to him?_ ”  
  
“We have, but it appears that he won’t believe any of us. He thinks we’ve abducted him.”  
  
“ _Surely he knows who_ you _are, of all people?_ ”  
  
“I’m afraid not,” Ignis sighed again. “He’s under the belief that I should still be twelve years old.”  
  
“ _I see_ ,” Cor said. “ _This is quite a mess you’ve got yourselves in._ ”  
  
“We could do with your assistance. If he’s more willing to believe you, then you could talk to him for us, try and convince him that we’re not here to hurt him like he thinks.”  
  
“It’s dangerous out here, Cor!” Prompto called out suddenly. He came closer to Ignis to speak down the phone, his mouth a grim line. “We already came across some coeurls out here before this crap went down. He could get hurt if he’s not with us, we need to get him back as soon as we can.”  
  
Cor was silent for a moment. “ _All right_ ,” he said eventually. “ _I’ll see what I can do, try and get him to come around._ ”  
  
Ignis let out a breath. “Thank you.”  
  
“ _Don't thank me yet._ _Just hold tight and I’ll speak with you soon._ ”  
  
With the call ended, Ignis let his arm drop and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long. The more time they spent out here, the more his uneasiness began to grow. Anything could happen to Noctis out here, and if he got hurt while he was lost then it could be hours before they found him.  
  
And if they couldn’t find him before it got dark….  
  
Of course, it didn’t help matters that it was just so _quiet_ out here. As silent as the grave. It was making him feel beyond nervous at this point, making every little horror show in his head that much more vivid, almost to the point where he couldn't stand it.  
  
“So,” Gladio cleared his throat. “Cor’s gonna help?”  
  
“He’s going to speak with Noct, yes,” Ignis answered, putting his phone back in his pocket. “It seems Noct called him first, so the marshal may just have a chance at reasoning with him.”  
  
Prompto was pacing, swinging his arms at his sides, obviously pent up with too much nervous energy. “Great!” he said. There was a smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. “So Noct knows Cor but not us. That’s—that's _awesome_.”  
  
“It makes sense, if you think about it,” Gladio said. “Cor’s always been an adult to him. We definitely haven’t.”  
  
“No, I know, it’s just—” Prompto sighed and ceased his pacing, rubbing his hands over his face. “He was so scared of me. He kept looking at me like I was gonna hurt him and he just didn’t believe anything I said. It was _awful_. It was like he hated me.”  
  
Ignis looked out towards the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of dark hair and dark clothes dashing amongst them, trying to sneak past, but there was nothing. The prince had looked at them all like that. He had been watching Gladio in particular, eyes wide and fearful, and it hadn’t felt any better when that gaze had been turned on him. Ignis never wanted to see that expression on his friend’s face again. “It’s nothing personal, Prompto,” he said. “He’s simply scared right now, that’s all. Once we calm him down and explain everything to him, he’ll come around.”  
  
“I hope you’re right,” Gladio murmured.  
  
A scream cut through the air.  
  
  
~ &~  
  
  
Some time ago, Noctis had been trapped inside a nightmare. He couldn’t remember much from it, but he knew there had been a constant feeling of pain and fear and _exhaustion_ , and, while it had seemed very much like the real world, it certainly hadn’t been. He had been lost inside of his dreams and he couldn’t find a way out no matter how much he looked for it, whether it was in a forest or the Citadel or the rainy streets of a distant city. He looked in every door and every window. He peered under every rock and behind every tree. He searched under every table, in every little nook and cranny, and still he couldn’t find a way out.  
  
And there had been monsters inside of that dream.  
  
Scuttling and scurrying monsters, snarling and vicious monsters. They had hunted him down, following him no matter which way he ran. It didn’t matter if he would find a place to hide, they would soon leap out of nowhere to attack him, slashing and swiping at him, trying to hurt him.  
  
Trying to _kill_ him.  
  
He had been strong then. He had been able to find his courage and fight against them, but only with the help of a special little friend. His dad had sent him his very own guardian, and that guardian had been with him nearly every step of the way, encouraging him to get up when he fell, to run when he slowed down. Encouraged him to not give up, to _fight_ , to find a way out.  
  
And he had. He had found his way out, he had escaped the nightmares and had returned to his dad and his home.  
  
But this wasn’t a nightmare. It didn’t matter how much he prayed that it was. It wasn’t going away and he wasn’t waking up, and now he was being chased by those very same monsters. His guardian wasn’t here with him and he didn’t know how to fight like he could in those dreams from long ago. He could only keep moving, hoping to outrun the snarls coming from behind him.  
  
He wished his dad was here. He wished Cor was here. Even those men from before would be better than _this_.  
  
He could hear yelling, distant and tinny. He still had his phone in his hand, the edges digging into his palm painfully from how hard he was clinging onto it, but he didn't dare use it just yet. Cor was still on the line, yelling for him, and Noctis had never heard him sound like that before. He needed to speak to him. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to get away from these things, and, deep down, he knew he couldn't outrun them forever.  
  
But Cor would be able to tell him. Cor would know exactly what to do.  
  
He quickly changed direction. The monsters slid across the forest floor, stumbling, not quite so quick to catch up with him, and there was enough of a gap between them now that Noctis felt brave enough to run while pressing the phone to his ear. “Cor!” he gasped.  
  
“ _Noctis!_ ” Cor said, his voice sharp and alarmed. “ _Noctis, what’s happening?_ ”  
  
“Monsters—” Noctis looked over his shoulder. They weren’t far behind him now. “I don’t know what they are. They’re chasing me!”  
  
A brief pause, and then, “ _Find somewhere to hide,_ now _. Find something small enough that they can't reach you in. No matter what happens, stay on the line._ ”  
  
"Okay!" Noctis pulled the phone away from his ear and turned again, running down a small slope, swinging his arms out at his sides to try and keep his balance. His lungs were burning again. There was sweat and dirty water stinging his eyes, blurring his vision. He could feel his legs tiring and his back felt funny, but he couldn’t give up now, he couldn’t let himself slow down, _please_ , if he slowed down then they would get him.  
  
His foot caught on something and he tripped, stumbling, heart in his throat, a cry ripping from his chest. One of the monsters jumped forwards to swipe at him, the tip of its long claw catching at his leg, and Noctis heard himself scream again. Pain flared through his skin, shooting up and down his calf, but he didn’t stop running. If he stopped now, if he let himself fall down, that would be it. These things would tear him apart.  
  
So he kept going.  
  
  
~&~  
  
  
Ignis had only had a moment to stand in shock before he had leapt into action, sprinting through the trees in the direction the sound had come from, instincts taking over him completely. Gladio and Prompto were right behind him, calling out for the prince, begging him for a response, but all they heard in return was another scream.  
  
And good gods, _that scream_. So full of fear and pain. A series of images flashed through Ignis’s mind, every single one of them bloody and awful, and he prayed that he was wrong, that they would make it there in time.  
  
“Noct!” Prompto yelled. He sounded beyond frantic now. “ _Noctis_! Tell us where you are!”  
  
“It’s this way!” Gladio said, pointing to their left. The ground was a little steeper this way, moving downwards, and they had to fight not to fall over in their haste. Ignis grabbed onto the trees for balance and leverage, letting his feet slide a little for more momentum, his heart racing, a constant _please be all right please be all right_ chanting in his head.  
  
If Noctis got hurt, or, worse, if he _died_ —  
  
They reached the bottom, nearly colliding with each other, their heavy breaths echoing around them. “I don’t hear anything,” Prompto gasped.  
  
“Wait, wait, shh,” Gladio said, holding an arm out, keeping them still.  
  
Ignis held his breath and tried to listen. He wanted to shake the other man. His own body was still shuddering with adrenaline, his muscles desperate to keep moving, and he was asking them to _wait_? Didn’t Gladio see that they didn’t have _time_ to just wait and listen? Didn’t he realize that Noctis was in _danger_?  
  
Logically, he knew that he did, of _course_ he did. The Shield was probably just as desperate as he was to find their missing friend, but he was also obviously aware that simply running around frantically wasn't going to help anyone. So Ignis listened. The tops of the trees were rustling in the breeze above them. There was running water nearby, somewhere to the right. And there was something else, out of place from all of that, and it was—snarling? Snarling and barking and—oh _gods_ , he was in real trouble wasn’t he, something out here had caught up to him and was going to _kill_ him—  
  
“Tracks,” Gladio said, rushing forwards, pointing at something on the ground a few feet ahead. There were wet footprints in the otherwise dry mud. Fresh. New. One set from a small human, and even more from something else. “This way, he’s gone this way!” Gladio turned left and started running, following the footprints through the trees.  
  
“Noct!” Ignis yelled. He nearly crashed into Gladio as the taller man turned right suddenly, leading them down another, more smaller bank. He thought the snarls were getting louder, so maybe they were getting closer. “Noctis!”  
  
“Help me!” a voice cried out. It sounded muffled, but not too far away. “I’m over here!”  
  
They _were_ closer, he could see that now. There was a small crevice, near where another slope went upwards, blocked off by rocks and fallen tree trunks. There was a gap in the side, small enough for a child to slip through and hide inside, but not big enough for the three sabertusks to reach in with their mouths or their claws. Instead, they crowded around it, snarling and barking, swiping at the trunks with surprising power, so much that tiny bits of bark flew off and the fallen trees jerked a little.  
  
They might not be able to get in just now, but they would eventually.  
  
Ignis didn’t stop to think about it. He had his spear summoned the moment he was close enough and he leapt forwards, slamming it into one of the sabertusks, lifting himself up into the air and flinging his body over to the other side of them. He landed and pulled away just as Gladio’s greatsword came sweeping into them, cutting into the creatures and knocking them away from the crevice.  
  
Prompto sprinted towards them, shooting at one enemy and leaping over it to slam his boot into the face of another. “We’ve gotcha, buddy,” he called over to the hiding space. “We’ll take care of this, don’t you worry!”  
  
One of the sabertusks was back up on its feet, launching itself at the trunks Noctis was hiding behind, causing one of them to move slightly, little rocks tumbling down and rolling away. Ignis ran for it, swinging himself around so that he was between the creature and the hiding prince. He turned his spear in his grip and thrust it towards the sabertusk, catching it in the chest. He tried for another blow, aiming for its throat. It dodged to the right in the nick of time, just barely missing the blade, and then it lunged at him. Its body slammed into his and he fell backwards with a grunt, colliding painfully with the trunks. Somewhere beneath, Noctis let out a frightened cry.  
  
“Iggy!” Gladio yelled, rushing for him. Ignis held tight onto his spear with both hands, pressing the bar into the sabertusk, managing to keep its snapping jaws just out of reach of his face and neck. He lifted his boot and pressed it against the creature’s stomach, and his muscles strained as he shoved it away from himself and towards Gladio just as the other man swung his weapon. The giant blade slammed down onto its hind legs with a sickening crunch, practically crippling it.  
  
Ignis quickly switched to his daggers. He dashed forwards and swung them down into the creature. It had been struggling to get back to its feet, weakened considerably by Gladio’s attack, but it fell still now under his blades and didn’t get back up.  
  
One down, two to go.  
  
It was so strange, he thought distantly, fighting without Noctis as an adult. True, they all had their training, they had been taught how to _protect_ the prince, but they had also learned how to work as a team. The three of them were meant to aid Noctis, and it was obvious their unit wasn’t complete without the prince’s additional skills. Not to mention how odd it felt not seeing him constantly warping from enemy to enemy, appearing left and right on the battlefield like a mischievous child playing tag.  
  
One of the sabertusks was coming towards Ignis, body tense and ready to pounce, but it had left itself wide open to Gladio’s attack. It didn’t stand a chance as his greatsword smashed into its side, lifting it up into the air and sending it crashing into a nearby tree. It let out a yelp before it jumped back to its feet. Ignis threw one of his daggers towards the creature and the other one up into the air, swinging his body around and slamming his boot into it. Both daggers sailed towards the sabertusk, burying into its side and neck.  
  
Ignis called his weapons back and turned around to see that Gladio and Prompto were having no trouble at all with the final sabertusk. Prompto dived forwards as the creature lunged for him, rolling along the ground and getting back to his feet in time to shoot at it. He let out a curse and swung his foot at it, knocking it in Gladio’s direction as the Shield swung his sword upwards. The sabertusk was thrown up into the air, and then promptly slammed back down under another heavy attack as Gladio swung downwards, finally finished off as Prompto shot it multiple times.  
  
They stood still for a moment, catching their breaths, and none of the creatures got back up. “That all of them?” Gladio said.  
  
“Think so,” Prompto answered. “Phew! Nasty little runts, aren’t they?”  
  
“Noct?” Ignis called out gently. He turned around to face the hiding spot. “Are you all right?”  
  
Noctis was mumbling something from inside his hiding place. Ignis strained to hear. “Yeah, they’re here,” Noctis whispered. There was a small pause, and then, “No, Cor, don’t, _please_ —”  
  
So he was on the phone again. Hopefully the marshal would be able to encourage him to leave his little hiding spot now that he was no longer in danger, although he probably wouldn’t with Prompto and Gladio coming to stand so close to it. Ignis raised a hand and waved at them to earn their attention, motioning to step back. Gladio raised his eyebrows and Prompto’s lips parted in surprise, but they did as he requested, walking away until there was a decent enough gap between them and Noctis. If Noctis had been scared before while they had chased after him, then he would be downright _terrified_ now after this attack. A terrified child wouldn’t be so quick to trust them.  
  
“Noctis?” Ignis tried again after it had fallen silent for a while. “Can you come out now?”  
  
There was a rather loud sniff, and then a trembling voice called out, “Are they gone? The monsters...are the monsters gone?”  
  
“Yes,” Ignis answered. “They’re dead. They can’t hurt you now. Can you come out?”  
  
There was a moment of silence. Then, quietly, Noctis appeared at the side opening to his hideaway, crawling out on all fours before getting to his feet. Ignis’s chest clenched painfully at the sight of him. He was more scratched up than he had been before, his short sleeves doing nothing to protect him from his surroundings. His arms were scraped and bruised, even a little bloody in some parts, his clothes were covered in dirt and mud and were soaking, and his hair was just as wet, clinging to his head. There was a small trail of blood running down the side of his face, mixing with more dirt and water.  
  
“Oh, man,” Prompto murmured. He sounded pained. “Look at you.”  
  
Indeed, he looked _terrible_. His eyes were red-rimmed and he was still sniffing. He looked so thoroughly miserable that it almost physically hurt to see him like this. Noctis was eyeing them warily, that fear still present, and he took a step backwards as Prompto reached out for him, a small, tired whine escaping him. “Don’t,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Please don’t.”  
  
Ignis sighed. What must they look like to Noctis? He seemed so small, a lot smaller than what they were used to, but he also seemed so _fragile_ compared to the trained and hardened body of his adult self. And here he was, this frail looking child, surrounded by _them_ and with no recollection of anything that had happened recently and with no idea where he was. What must it be like for a child to suddenly be in a strange place and surrounded by strange men who practically dwarfed him, and with no known ally in sight? With that thought, Noctis’s fear and desperate attempt to escape felt perfectly justified, as did his idea that he had been kidnapped.  
  
But hopefully he didn’t think that anymore. Hopefully Cor had managed to convince him that he was safe.  
  
“Please,” Noctis said. His eyes were stuck on the nearest sabertusk and the colour had been completely leached out of his face. “Please, I just want to go home.”  
  
"Noct," Prompto said quietly, his face scrunched up. When he received no response, he looked over at Ignis and mouthed ' _what do we do?_ ' to him.  
  
They weren’t completely limited in their options, he thought. At this age, Noctis might not have met Gladio or Prompto, but he had grown up with Ignis. He knew Ignis, and Ignis knew _him_ , he had an entire arsenal of memories of their childhood together. He knew things that no one else would. Noctis being unable to recognize him right now did not negate any of their experiences together.  
  
“Did you talk to Cor?” Ignis asked him, trying to keep his voice as soothing as possible.  
  
Noctis hesitated, then nodded. He held his phone up. “He’s not on the line anymore,” his eyes darted over to Gladio and Prompto. “But he said I could call him back anytime if I needed him.”  
  
He was obviously trying to warn them. Ignis nodded. “Okay, that’s fair,” he said. “Did he tell you about us? Did he explain to you that I really am Ignis?”  
  
Noctis nodded. He bit his lip and looked away. “But you _can’t_ be—this just can’t be real…”  
  
“I can prove it to you,” Ignis said. He took a step closer, but that only resulted in making the boy tense up again, so he held his hands out, crouching down instead in the hopes that he wouldn’t be so imposing. “When you were seven and I was nine, your father bought you a soccer ball that you’d been begging him for for weeks. We nearly always played in the corridors, but sometimes we found ways to sneak into other rooms to play. Do you remember that?”  
  
Noctis stared at him silently, still sniffing a little, eyes wide, but he didn’t say anything.  
  
“Do you remember when we snuck into a gallery and you kicked the ball so hard it hit a portrait of one of your ancestors? The ball made a tear in his face, but you insisted that if we superglued it back together then it would look just fine.”  
  
Noctis looked away, reaching his free hand up to wipe at his eyes as he muttered, “It _did_ glue back together.”  
  
“Yes, but he ended up looking as if he had some sort of terrible skin disease.”  
  
“Yeah, well he had a snooty look so he kinda deserved it.”  
  
Ignis smiled at him then, and a quick glance over to the others showed that they had picked up on the same thing. Something had changed in Noctis’s tone. He was still very tense and wary, still giving them all fearful looks, but he sounded as if he was more willing to listen now. Perhaps he had realized that an enemy wouldn’t have known such a trivial story. “And do you remember your ninth birthday?” he continued, hoping to further relax the boy. “You still had your wheelchair then and you were bored out of your mind, so I jumped into your spare one and challenged you to a race.”  
  
“You _what_?” Prompto spluttered suddenly while Gladio snorted in amusement. “ _You_? Ignis ‘No-Fun’ Scientia?”  
  
“He also got his wheel stuck on a corner and went flying into a table,” Noctis said hesitantly. “Had a bruise on his chin for weeks.”  
  
“Yes, thank you, Noct, I was rather hoping to avoid sharing that part of the story,” Ignis sighed. It had been more humiliating than painful, but it had been entirely worth it to hear his friend’s hysterical laughter after a particularly severe bout of depression.  
  
Noctis watched him warily, eyeing him up and down as if inspecting him, and Ignis fought to remain looking as harmless as possible. “If you’re trying to make me think you’re Ignis, then it’s not working,” the boy said, but he didn't sound so sure of himself anymore. “Everybody knows those stories. Even my dad knows about the painting, I’m sure of it.”  
  
Well, Noctis always _had_ delighted in sharing and recreating the table story, especially with his father, and, while they had never mentioned the painting incident to anyone else, it seemed as if _everyone_ had known who the culprits behind its defacement were. Ignis was sure he had seen a knowing smile on King Regis’s face once, upon seeing the portrait while he escorted guests around the Citadel.  
  
They could simply settle for being known as members of the Crownsguard, but Ignis knew that, even then, Noctis would never completely trust them or be comfortable with them, as working for the Crown had never automatically won the prince’s confidence. He wouldn’t listen to just any Crownsguard member, but he would listen to Ignis, so he needed something else to fully convince him of his identity. Clearly he wasn’t just taking Cor’s word for it at this point, and Ignis couldn’t blame him for that either. Even _he_ was struggling to believe that any of this was real, and he was face to face with the proof that it was.  
  
Very well. Perhaps something a little more private then. “We built a secret fort inside your room,” he said softly and the prince went still. “It won’t have been so long ago for you, I guess. You grew so tired of the nurses and servants checking up on you, and so we made a secret place where we could hide away from them all.” He found himself smiling a little at the memory of it. “We decorated it with star stickers that glowed in the dark.”  
  
Noctis’s eyes were wide again, but there was something far more vulnerable in them now. His bit his lip and looked down, but his eyes were soon drawn back to Ignis. “If you’re really Ignis then you know the password,” he said pointedly, his voice shaky.  
  
Ignis nodded. They both knew there were only two people in the entire world who knew that password. “Can I whisper it to you now?” he asked. “That way, you’ll know it’s me, and it will still remain our secret.”  
  
The boy hesitated. He turned to look at Prompto and Gladio, but he didn’t seem nearly as frightened as he had been earlier, his body wasn’t preparing to run again. He nodded at Ignis, shoulders tensing as he came closer, but he tilted his head anyway for Ignis to lean close, to cup his hands around his mouth and whisper ‘ _Cargis_ ’ into his ear. It was a word the prince had invented, made up of ‘Carbuncle’ and ‘Regis’, two of the only things in the world that made him feel the safest. A rather fitting password for a secret hideaway.  
  
Noctis was frozen for a moment, even when Ignis pulled away. Then he looked up at him, his face a mixture of confusion and hope, his hands moving a little as if he wanted to reach out and touch him. “Ignis?” he said, and he suddenly sounded very, very small.  
  
“Yes,” Ignis nodded.  
  
Noctis looked him up and down, mouth open, eyes incredulous now instead of fearful. “I don’t get it,” he mumbled and shook his head. “What happened? How are you like this?”  
  
Ignis found himself chuckling at that, although he wasn’t sure if it was out of relief or amusement. “I grew up. You did too, although something appears to have happened to reverse that.” He looked over at Prompto, who was watching them both with wide, hopeful eyes. Ignis motioned for him and Gladio to step closer. “Noct, this is Prompto Argentum. He’s your friend from school.”  
  
“I don’t have any friends at school,” Noctis said, but he was meeting Prompto’s gaze, watching him with a little less hostility now even if he was still a little wary.  
  
“Yeah, we—um—didn’t meet until we were teenagers,” Prompto said, shifting from one foot to the other. “I promise I didn’t kidnap you, okay? You believe me now?”  
  
Noctis nodded slowly. “I guess,” he said, then looked at Gladio expectantly.  
  
Ignis glanced up at the taller man, who was choosing to stay silent and still, waiting to be introduced, most likely trying to avoid appearing as intimidating as possible. A wise choice, seeing as he was the largest out of any of them and had more of a chance of still frightening the boy. “This is Gladiolus Amicitia. He’s your Shield.”  
  
Noctis was frowning. “Like Clarus? He’s your dad, right?”  
  
Gladio paused, only briefly, and nodded. “Yeah.” Ignis sent him an apologetic look but Gladio merely shook his head at him. They all knew of Clarus’s fate. If the King was dead, then it went without saying that his own Shield had gone down with him.  
  
Of course, Noctis didn’t need to know that. Not about Clarus and certainly not about his own father. Not right now.  
  
He reached out for Noctis then, hesitantly, and he felt a flash of relief when he wasn’t rejected. Noctis had always been a little uneasy with people touching him, particularly after his childhood accident and _especially_ with strangers, but he had never had a problem with Ignis being close. It would have made sense for the prince to shy away now, like he had done earlier, but the fact that he didn’t proved that he really was beginning to trust Ignis.  
  
Ignis moved his fingers gently, pushing Noctis’s hair back to try and see where the blood was coming from. There, a scratch along his temple, rather long and jagged. It wasn’t deep and it was clotting now, but it still looked a little tender. “What happened?” he asked, tilting his friend’s head to look at his eyes, checking his pupils.  
  
Noctis squirmed now, uncomfortable with the attention, but he didn’t pull away. “I fell,” he said. “Down a hill. Landed in a stream and hit my head off a rock.”  
  
Prompto whistled. “Man, you are _not_ having a good day, are you?”  
  
“That’ll explain why you’re wet,” Gladio said.  
  
Confident that the prince didn’t have a concussion, he took a hold of the boy’s arms and checked them over. While they must have been painful, each scratch and bruise was rather superficial and he doubted Noctis had broken any bones. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”  
  
Noctis paused, then nodded. “My leg. One of those... _things_ got me,” he glanced over at one of the dead sabertusks and shivered.  
  
Ignis moved behind him to see. His jeans were torn open in the back of his right leg, the fabric wet with fresh blood. The scratch on his calf wasn’t too bad, not if Noctis was still standing and putting weight on that foot, but it would get infected if it wasn’t seen to.  
  
“Do either of you have a potion on hand?” Ignis asked, looking at Prompto and Gladio.  
  
The two patted themselves down, Prompto grimacing and shaking his head while Gladio took a bottle out of his jacket pocket. “How bad is it?” he asked, frowning in concern.  
  
“It’s nothing life-threatening, but I would feel a lot better if we saw to it now rather than leave it.”  
  
Gladio nodded and took the top off the bottle, holding it out to Noctis. “Here,” he said with a small smile. “Drink this.”  
  
Noctis stared down at the drink with a frown, then glanced up at them all. “No,” he murmured.  
  
Ignis and Gladio shared a small glance while Prompto scratched the back of his neck and smiled awkwardly. “It’s not gonna poison you, dude, don’t worry. It’s to heal your wounds.”  
  
Gladio chuckled a little. “Here, look,” he made an exaggerated toast at Noctis and then brought the bottle back to himself, taking a sip, grimacing a little as he swallowed. “It doesn’t taste all that great, but it’s fine, see?”  
  
“Go on,” Ignis said when Noctis looked at him. They watched as he then took the bottle from Gladio, clearly still reluctant and suspicious. He sniffed at the contents and scrunched his nose up, but he drank it all down anyway, swallowing as if he hadn’t had a drink in years.  
  
He made a disgusted noise as he finished, and Ignis fought back a smile, taking the empty bottle from him and shoving it in a pocket to discard later. “All right,” he said. “Now that that’s done with, I suggest we head back to camp.”  
  
Prompto groaned and threw his arms out, gesturing to the trees around them. “Well, there’s a problem. Just how are we gonna get outta here? Do you see a way out? ‘Cause I don’t. I think we’re lost, guys.”  
  
“We’re not lost, don’t be a baby,” Gladio rolled his eyes. “I can get us back to the main path. But, hey, if you want to stay out here for when it gets dark then be my guest.”  
  
Prompto stared at him and let out a nervous laugh, shaking his head. “No, no thank you, no sirree. I think I’d like to get out of here now. Pretty please?”  
  
Gladio snorted. “Yeah, I thought so. And while we’re on our little stroll through the woods, you can tell us just how the _hell_ this happened.”  
  
“Yes, I’m also curious to hear this particular tale,” Ignis said as he straightened up, not missing the startled way Noctis watched him rise to his full height. Ignis gave him a small smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll come with us, won’t you, Noct?”  
  
Noctis nodded slowly, shrugging a little as if it didn’t make a difference to him what happened, but from the way he glanced at the dead sabertusks again it was obvious that he wanted to get away from here as soon as possible.  
  
Prompto was staring at them with a grimace. “Uh...didn’t I already tell you what happened?”  
  
“Nope,” Gladio said. “Not the full thing.”  
  
“Um...it wasn’t my fault? Totally, _totally_ wasn’t my fault. I _said_ splitting up was a bad idea! Didn’t I say splitting up was a bad idea?”  
  
“Uh-huh,” Gladio was smirking now, oozing confidence in that way he always did whenever Prompto was nervous, almost like a predator stalking its prey, feeding off of its fear. “How about you tell us the story, and _then_ we’ll pass judgement?”  
  
“While we’re moving, preferably,” Ignis said. “And while it’s still daylight.”  
  
Prompto paused, then rolled his eyes, letting out a rather dramatic sigh. “Damn it, _fine_. Gather ‘round children, and let me tell you the story of how Prompto is _always right_.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, you can find me over on tumblr if you want to talk: ivorydice.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been way too long since my last update, I'm sorry! I'm going through a really bad block at the moment, and whenever I do manage to get things written it all just feels like crap. It's so frustrating!
> 
> Anyway, new chapter, I hope you enjoy it even though it's kinda boring lol. I've edited this, like, a bajillion times, but I still might have missed something, so feel free to point out any mistakes/grammar issues/inconsistencies/etc!
> 
> And, again, thank you so much for the comments/kudos/etc! It really does mean a lot <3

  
  
As they traversed the forest, Prompto launched into a rather lengthy retelling of what had happened during the time they had been split into groups. He explained that he and Noctis had been searching around, as instructed, when they had happened upon a quarry, had fought off coeurls - “That you totally sicced on us by sending those texts, you _asshole_!” - and had somehow fallen down _into_ the quarry, into some old ruins below, where a green gas had been set off around Noctis and he had reemerged as a child.  
  
Honestly, it sounded so bizarre, so _ridiculous_ , that Ignis would have accused him of making it all up if it wasn’t for the small prince travelling at their side.  
  
“So, wait,” Gladio said after he was done, his expression a mixture of surprise, disbelief and pride. “You guys took on three coeurls by yourselves?”  
  
Prompto grinned at him and nodded enthusiastically. “Hell yeah, we kicked their _asses_!” he said, then deflated a little. “And they sort of kicked ours too…. But we’re the ones that won, so that’s what really matters!”  
  
Beside them, Noctis was silent. He let Ignis grab his arm to help pull him up the steeper banks, but otherwise remained quiet. He was still wary, it seemed, of practically everything. Of the area around him, of any slight rustling they heard from the bushes or trees, of Gladio and Prompto. He was even a little wary of Ignis, clearly intimidated by the prospect of a larger, grown up version of his friend. His trust seemed to outweigh that fear, however, allowing him to walk closer to Ignis while still keeping a distance between him and his other friends.  
  
It tugged at something in Ignis’s chest. It was just so odd and disheartening to see Noctis shying away from them, especially when he and Prompto were practically glued to each other’s sides for most of the time. He just had to keep reminding himself that it was only temporary. Sooner or later, they would find a way to reverse this affliction, and then they would have their friend back to his normal self again.  
  
Besides, he knew Noctis. Give the boy a little time, be patient with him, and he would eventually come out of his shell and open up to them. Even to Gladio. It had happened before, after all.  
  
“So, what do you think this is?” Gladio called back, leading the way through the trees. “You think it’s just like any other ailment we’ve come across?”  
  
“If it is, then I’ve never heard of anything like it,” Ignis replied. “It couldn’t hurt to try out some potions once we return to camp, see if anything might help.”  
  
Gladio’s tracking skills proved to be quite valuable, as they managed to retrace their steps through the forest with surprising ease, although how he could find his way back was beyond Ignis. Everything managed to look the same out here. No matter which way they turned, there were simply trees everywhere, and Noctis had proven to be quite slippery while he was trying to escape from them, turning in different directions to try and lose them. It was quite the wonder that they hadn’t actually ended up lost out here.  
  
“Ah, finally!” Prompto exclaimed as they broke through the trees and reached the main path. “Freedom! I never want to go in the woods ever again after this.”  
  
Gladio snorted. “Baby.”  
  
“Love you too, big guy.”  
  
Gladio actually looked amused for a moment, before he stopped and turned to Ignis. “So, are we heading straight back to camp, then? Or should we still look around? We haven’t found that hunter’s gear yet.”  
  
Ignis checked the time on his phone, frowning down at it. While they still needed to finish the job they were assigned to, the very reason they had come out here in the first place, that didn’t change the fact that daylight was wasting away. It was mid-afternoon, still a little while to go before the sun would set, but there was no telling how long it would take to search the area. Their campsite was still some distance away, and they would have to walk at a slower pace for their small companion to be able to keep up. Ignis didn’t much like the prospect of making their way back in the dark, not with Noctis in this condition.  
  
“I, personally, think we should head back,” Prompto said suddenly, glancing at Noctis with a rather serious look in his eyes. “We really need to get him outta those wet clothes, or he could get sick. And it’s not like that guy’s things are just gonna grow legs and run away while we’re there, right?”  
  
They took in Noctis’s wet clothes and hair, not quite as soaking as he had been before, but it would definitely be better to see to it sooner rather than later. “Agreed,” Ignis said. “We need to head back.”  
  
“All right, then,” Gladio said, and he led the way down the main path.  
  
Ignis glanced down at Noctis. “Are you all right?”  
  
Noctis nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said quietly, frowning a little. “Just kinda tired.”  
  
That was understandable. His injuries had healed now thanks to the potion, his scratches and bruises faded away as if they had ever existed, but no doubt the day’s events had left him exhausted. “Well, don’t worry, you can rest up once we return to camp.”  
  
“And get some grub,” Prompto turned around, grinning down at the prince, walking backwards as he spoke to them, “Ignis is an awesome cook, you know. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to make you anything you want.”  
  
Ignis rolled his eyes. “Not anything, we are limited in our supplies after all.”  
  
“Please, Iggy, you could make a meal out of _grass_ , I’m sure.”  
  
Gladio glanced at him over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, someone’s not trying to flatter you into cooking their favourite stuff, not at all.”  
  
Ignis smirked at the way Prompto’s eyes widened. “I’m sure.”  
  
“Oh, come on!” Prompto groaned.  
  
Gladio threw him another grin, shrugging rather dramatically, but a strange look came across his face as his eyes landed on their small companion. “Hey, Noctis, you okay?”  
  
Ignis looked down in time to see the grimace on Noctis’s face before the prince tried to wipe it off, schooling his features into something a little more unreadable. He squirmed a little under the attention, eyes down. “I’m fine,” he mumbled.  
  
He wasn’t fine. He was walking far too stiffly, as if he didn’t dare to move anything except his legs, and even that looked like somewhat of an ordeal for him. He was tilting a little to the side, almost limping, as if trying to alleviate pain from somewhere in his body.  
  
“Stop,” Ignis said, pressing a hand to his shoulder. “What’s the matter? Are you in pain?”  
  
Noctis stood still and stared up at him with a frown, but then his mask dropped as his shoulders slumped, and he looked away almost in defeat. “It’s my back,” he said quietly. “And—and my leg. Think I ran too much.”  
  
It only took him a second or two to realize why, and Ignis cursed himself. How could he have let such an important detail slip his mind? Noctis hadn’t just been turned into a child, he had been completely reverted back to his ten year old self, and that included the aches and pains resulting from too much exercise. Even at ten, Noctis was still recovering from the spinal injury he acquired when that daemon had attacked him. He was more mobile at this age, able to get back to a somewhat normal life, but he still couldn’t push himself too hard. Doing so resulted in a pain that, quite often, left him bedridden or back in his wheelchair.  
  
Running for his life, climbing hills and taking a fall was definitely in the category of pushing himself too hard.  
  
Ignis let out a sigh and crouched down. “My apologies, Noct,” he said. “It’s been so long since you’ve had such troubles with your back, I didn’t think about it.”  
  
“Wait, he had a potion,” Prompto said. He was chewing on the edge of his thumb and his eyes were wide with concern. “Shouldn’t that have gotten rid of everything?”  
  
“You know as well as I do that potions aren’t quite as effective on old injuries,” Ignis said. It might have been able to mask the pain for a little while, but clearly the effects were wearing off now, to the point where walking seemed almost unbearable.  
  
They still had quite a way to go to reach camp, but Ignis hated the idea of forcing him to continue walking. It would only exacerbate his pain even further. Decision made, he turned around, still crouching, and motioned for the boy to climb onto his back. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll carry you the rest of the way.”  
  
Noctis glared at him mildly. “I don’t need to be carried. I’m not a baby.”  
  
“You’re not, but I highly doubt you can continue walking for much longer.”  
  
Gladio crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t act like you have something to prove,” he said. “You don’t want to make yourself any worse by pretending you can tough it out. You’ll regret it later if you do.”  
  
“We ain’t gonna judge, bro,” Prompto grinned a little. “Hell, sometimes we’ve had to carry each other back to camp after a bad fight with some nasties.” He bent over a little, cupping a hand around his mouth, whispering loudly, “Not Gladio though, he’s so fat, we have to _drag_ his ass back.”  
  
Gladio glared at him. “You’re so funny.”  
  
Noctis made an amused noise, which he quickly tried to cover up by clearing his throat. When he looked back at Ignis, he didn’t look too happy about the idea of being carried, but Ignis knew he wasn’t going to fight it either. He might have hated all the coddling his old nurses and servants used to do, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of his own limitations. “But you’ll get dirty and wet,” Noctis said.  
  
Ignis raised an eyebrow at him. “It’ll clean off.”  
  
Noctis sighed and stepped closer, his lips twitching up only slightly. “You haven’t given me a choco-back ride since I was, like, five.”  
  
“Nothing like reliving old times, then.” He shifted his grip and stance as Noctis wrapped his arms and legs around him, and then he straightened up, chuckling when Noctis let out a startled noise and gripped at him tighter.  
  
Prompto and Gladio were sending them somewhat amused looks as they continued walking again, Prompto even going so far as to quickly take out his camera and snap a picture. Ignis rolled his eyes and ignored the two, focused instead on getting them back to camp. They could go at a much quicker pace with Noctis on his back, and hopefully, once there, they could find something in their stash that would rid him of this affliction.  
  
Noctis’s body was tense, although whether it was from his pain or wariness, Ignis wasn’t sure. “Everything all right?” he asked.  
  
“Fine,” Noctis replied. Ignis almost wanted to roll his eyes. ‘Fine’ was Noctis’s default answer to everything, even at twenty years old, and he was certainly more prone to using the word when he was feeling the exact opposite. He was about to question him further when Noctis’s arms tensed a little, fingers gripping the lapels of Ignis’s jacket. He leaned over a little to look at Ignis’s face and, softly, he asked, “We’re not in Insomnia, are we?”  
  
Ignis raised his eyes to the view before them. They had left the woodland behind, and before them was the sprawling landscape, the hills and the rocks, the trees, the distant mountains. Ignis sighed. He supposed that, even in the forest and the quarry, Noctis still could have been under the impression that he was back in his home city. Insomnia had had its fair share of nature reserves and parks, after all. But there was no hiding that they weren’t home anymore, not with the view before them, with the distinct lack of buildings and skyscrapers.  
  
“No,” Ignis said softly. “We’re not.”  
  
“We’re outside?” At Ignis’s nod, Noctis looked back at the scenery before them. He felt even more tense than before. “Does my dad know we’re out here?”  
  
Ignis hesitated, unsure how to answer, and looked over to see Prompto’s nervous eyes and Gladio’s carefully blank face. “Uh,” Prompto said, smiling a little. “Your dad was literally the one who sent us off. We’re on a road trip, see.”  
  
“Indeed,” Ignis gave the blond a grateful nod. That would be a good enough excuse, and it wasn’t as if it was untrue. Hopefully it would keep Noctis from asking too many questions. Hopefully it would be a good enough explanation for everything out here.  
  
Noctis fell quiet for a moment, and then asked, “Why?”  
  
“I’m sorry?”  
  
“Why are we on a road trip?”  
  
“Because we wanted to,” Gladio shrugged. “Sort of a rite of passage, see the world, gather experience. Don’t worry about it, okay? We’re adults and we definitely have the permission to be out here, so everything’s good.”  
  
Noctis fell silent again, and that seemed to be the end of that.  
  
  
~ &~  
  
  
They made it back to their campsite without any incidents, which Ignis was immensely grateful for. This day had been stressful enough for all of them, he couldn’t imagine what it would have been like had they ran into any other hostile creatures or, gods forbid, any magitek troopers.  
  
Their camping gear was still all where they had left it, the chairs, the storage boxes, the tent, their bags. Every time they left their things behind to go out on a job, Ignis half-expected to return to a ransacked campsite. It felt risky to leave their things behind, but there was no point in setting it all up, just to take it all down and then set it back up again once they returned.  
  
Well, in all honesty, _he_ would have no problem doing that, however he knew of a certain two who would complain endlessly about it, who _had_ complained endlessly about it until they had managed to get their own way.  
  
“What is this place?” Noctis asked as Ignis gently set him down, looking around while Gladio and Prompto made themselves comfortable and Ignis went over to the box they kept the rest of their potions in.  
  
Prompto flopped down into one of the camping chairs. “Our campsite. It’s not much, but it’s cosy.”  
  
“Not much,” Gladio repeated with a scoff, lighting the fire with quick efficiency before settling into his own chair. “What are you talking about? This is a thing of beauty.”  
  
“Yeah, to savages like you,” Prompto grinned. “Us civilized people, however, prefer something with a _liiiitle_ more comfort.”  
  
Ignis snorted and closed the box of potions, balancing several bottles in his arms. “Civilized is not a word I would associate with you, Prompto.”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
“Noct, come sit, please,” Ignis said, sitting in one of the chairs and pulling the remaining one closer to him. He set the bottles on the floor by his feet, waiting as Noctis slowly hobbled over and sat down in the seat, eyeing the various potions.  
  
Noctis bit his lip. “What are those?”  
  
“More potions,” Ignis answered, and smiled a little at the groan that earned him. “Hopefully one of these can rid you of this effect and restore you to normal.”  
  
Prompto and Gladio leaned forwards in their seats. “Seems like you got a lot there,” Prompto said.  
  
“Yes, well, seeing as this is an affliction we’ve never encountered before, I dare say it doesn’t hurt to try all of our options.” He picked up one of the bottles and held it out to Noctis. “Noct, I need you to drink this.”  
  
Noctis eyed the bottle warily, and then looked up at Ignis. “Do I _have_ to?”  
  
“You want to be big again, don’t you?” Prompto smiled.  
  
“I don’t remember _being_ big,” Noctis shot back, then turned back to Ignis with those wide, unsure eyes.  
  
Ignis watched him quietly. It seemed almost as if Noctis was getting scared again. “I understand your reluctance,” he said carefully. He took the top off of the bottle and handed it out towards him. “But, Noct, we really do need to try and restore you to normal. You’re supposed to be an adult, and I know you still don’t quite believe that, but it’s the truth. Furthermore, we _need_ you to be an adult.”  
  
Noctis slowly took the bottle offered to him, holding it in two small hands. He glanced over at Prompto and Gladio, who were both making encouraging gestures, and he sighed heavily before lifting the bottle to his lips. He scrunched his face up, brows furrowed, but he kept on drinking. Ignis would have been impressed if he wasn’t so damn anxious.  
  
Finally, Noctis handed the empty bottle back, grimacing as he rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth. “So,” he said, then shuddered, his face twisting in disgust. “Ugh. How long will it take to work?”  
  
“It should be rather quick,” Ignis answered. “A few minutes at the most.”  
  
They waited, the silence broken only by the crackling of the fire. Noctis shifted, clearly uncomfortable with three sets of eyes staring at him as if he was a test subject in a laboratory, but he remained quiet, head down, scratching his thumb at the knee of his jeans.  
  
And still nothing happened.  
  
“Huh,” Gladio said.  
  
“Okay,” Prompto said slowly. “Next potion, I guess?”  
  
“I’m afraid so,” Ignis sighed.  
  
Noctis groaned.  
  
Eventually they gave him so much to drink, Noctis looked as if he was about to throw up from it all. They gave him Remedies, Elixirs, even antidotes of all things, but still nothing worked. Even after an hour, it seemed as if none of the potions they had would fix the prince, so either they needed something they hadn’t bought yet, or a potion just wasn’t the right cure.  
  
“Sorry,” Noctis mumbled, watching as Ignis pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.  
  
Ignis blinked. “Why? It’s certainly not your fault.”  
  
Prompto, who was tapping away on his phone, looked up sharply and said, “Definitely not mine, either, so don’t even think about going there. We should blame the guy who suggested splitting up in the first place. It’s his fault.”  
  
There was a pause, and then Gladio snorted. “Wasn’t it Noct that suggested it?”  
  
“Ha!” Prompto grinned and made a fist, shaking it triumphantly. “I _knew_ it wasn’t me.”  
  
“While I hate to interrupt your moment of satisfaction,” Ignis raised an eyebrow at the two of them, “I think we should focus on the matter at hand.”  
  
Gladio frowned and ran a hand over his chin, regarding the boy with thoughtful eyes. “We could always ask Cor, he might know something about this.”  
  
“Surely he would have told us something before?” Ignis said. He glanced down at Noctis. “Did he tell you anything when you spoke to him?”  
  
Noctis shook his head.  
  
“Oh!” Prompto perked up abruptly. “What if it’s a twenty-four hour thing? Maybe we just have to wait it out for a little while, and then he’ll just go back to normal.”  
  
Gladio shrugged. “It’s possible.”  
  
“Yes, I suppose it is,” Ignis nodded. It wasn’t quite a terrible suggestion, since they had definitely come across similar things before. They could easily wait it out overnight if that was all it took. “Meanwhile, maybe one of us could send a text to the marshal, ask him if he knows anything that could be of use.”  
  
Gladio nodded. “I’ll do it.”  
  
“Why don’t we just call my dad?” Noctis spoke up suddenly. He was still sitting on the chair, watching them and scuffing a foot against the ground. “He’s been on adventures out here before, so he’ll know something about this, right?”  
  
Ignis hesitated only slightly, swallowing against a lump in his throat at the idea of lying to his friend again. Still, lying was better than telling him the truth. If Noctis knew of what had become of his father, he would be more than heartbroken. “Unfortunately, your father has been extremely busy as of late. We won’t really be able to reach him right now.”  
  
Noctis stared at him for so long, Ignis worried that the boy could see right through him. Then Noctis’s eyes lowered as he nodded. “Figures,” he muttered, and then he looked out at the horizon with a sigh. “So, what now?”  
  
“Well, it’s been one helluva day,” Prompto said. He jumped to his feet and stretched, letting out a rather loud groan. “I vote we get some grub and rest up, sleep on this. Hopefully something’ll happen in the morning.”  
  
Noctis frowned then, glancing over at the tent. “But—” he started, then he looked back out at the horizon, at the sky above them, before his eyes finally landed on Ignis. “You mean...out here? We’re sleeping outside?”  
  
“Yes,” Ignis nodded.  
  
“No,” Noctis said. His voice was starting to waver a little, thin with alarm, and his eyes had widened, the colour draining from his face. He shoved himself to his feet, the chair jumping slightly from the force of it. “ _No_ , Ignis. We can’t.”  
  
Prompto had been reaching for the cooler to get a drink, but he was frozen now, frowning over at them in confusion. “Sure we can,” he said, his voice bright, but it was obvious he was trying to lighten the situation. “We’ve done it, like, a million times before.”  
  
“No,” Noctis repeated, shaking his head. He took an unsteady step backwards and dodged away when both Ignis and Gladio reached out for him. “I’ve done some weird things for you guys today, but I’m _not_ sleeping outside.”  
  
Ignis fought back against the urge to reach out for him again. He was too tense, hands clenching into fists, and it was like they were back in the forest all over again, trying to convince him that they were his friends and that he was _safe_. “I’m afraid we don’t have any other choice, Noct,” he said gently.  
  
Noctis shook his head again, more harshly this time, and it looked as if he was struggling to keep his breathing under control. “Yeah, well, I don’t believe you,” he bit out. “We’re _not_ sleeping out here.”  
  
Gladio frowned. “What’s the problem?”  
  
“We’re outside!” Noctis yelled at him, and his Shield actually looked startled at the reaction “We’re _outside_ and you want us to _sleep_ out here and there’s no wall and—” he looked up at the sky again, his hand covering his mouth. He finally turned back to Ignis. “Ignis, I can’t _be_ out here. You know I can’t.”  
  
It didn’t take a fool to realize why. The way his eyes drifted out over to the horizon, looking around for any dangers, for something that might attack him. And the way he kept looking up at the sky, as if pleading for some sort of saviour, for some sort of protection. Something like, say, the wall that had kept Insomnia safe.  
  
“It’s the daemons,” Ignis said. “You’re afraid daemons will attack you, aren’t you?”  
  
Noctis let out a small moan and nodded, lowering his head, hands at his sides now, shoulders slumped. The picture of pure dejection. It actually hurt to see him like this, to see him so openly distressed.  
  
“Noct,” Prompto started, then cleared his throat. “Noctis, you don’t have to worry about them. You know, this campsite? It’s a haven, a safe place. Daemons can’t get us here.”  
  
Gladio nodded in agreement. “And you have us here. I’m your Shield, I’m sworn to protect you, so don’t worry. I won’t let anything hurt you.”  
  
Noctis stared at Ignis, eyes big and round and pleading, and _good gods_ it was so hard not to simply give into that expression. “ _Ignis_ ,” he said, his voice weak and pained. “No. We have to go home.”  
  
Ignis looked over at Prompto and Gladio, feeling completely helpless, unsure how to handle the situation, but they looked just as lost as he was. “We can’t go home—”  
  
Noctis let out a snarl and pushed at him, small hands connecting with his stomach, but he couldn’t do more than simply nudge Ignis a little given how small he was in comparison. “We’re going home!” he yelled, and he could almost come across as strong and sure if it wasn’t for his bright eyes and the way his voice shook. “I’m your prince and I _order_ you to take me home!”  
  
“If we leave now,” Ignis said, slowly, crouching down so they were eye-level with each other, “then we’ll have to start packing everything up. That could take some time. And then we’ll have to walk all the way back to the car, and that’s not to mention we’re rather far out from any lodgings we can find. We’ll end up driving around in the dark, Noct, and then we’ll _definitely_ be in danger of an attack.”  
  
What little colour that had remained in Noctis’s face was completely gone now. Ignis sighed, feeling frustrated and awful about this entire thing. He was supposed to know how to handle things, he prided himself on being able to take control over any situation, and yet all of his training, all of his knowledge, seemed to mean practically nothing when faced with Noctis like this.  
  
“This _is_ a safe place,” he said. “We’ve stayed in campsites before and not once have the daemons ever come for us. They can’t, not while we’re here. And you know that I would never do anything to put you in any danger.” He reached out and took the boy’s shoulders, squeezing gently, but he was still so tense and pale, trembling a little under Ignis’s touch. “I promise you. We’re safe here. No harm will come to you.”  
  
Noctis’s head lowered again, his hair obscuring his face. “This day _sucks_ ,” he muttered after a moment.  
  
“Don’t worry about it, okay?” Gladio said gently, eyes sad and his mouth a grim line. “Everything will be fine.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s what my bodyguards said,” Noctis replied, and he looked out at the horizon again. “And then they died.”  
  
  
~&~  
  
  
He had been hoping to have this whole thing resolved rather quickly. Have Noctis drink a potion and then return to normal, as easy as that. Now, seeing as the potions weren’t working, they were faced with the fact that Noctis was still very dirty and wet.  
  
Noctis pulled his hoodie off obediently and he looked rather pitiful now, standing in a t-shirt and shorts, arms wrapped around himself. He looked better now that he had cleaned the dirt and blood off of his face and had towelled his hair dry a little, but his eyes were still downcast and miserable.  
  
“We’ll have to wash everything,” Ignis said, handing the hoodie over to Gladio. The Shield was crouched over a square tub, scrubbing at the black jeans inside with some of the water from their storage supplies.  
  
“No problem,” Gladio said. “If we dry it by the fire, it’ll definitely be done by the morning. He might smell of campfires for a little while, but it beats being dirty.”  
  
“Well, he’s certainly smelled worse, before,” Prompto chucked, sitting by the fire and tapping away at his phone.  
  
Ignis raised an eyebrow at him. “As have you. I distinctly recall the time you fell in garula waste and—”  
  
“Dude, not cool! I told you to never bring that up again!”  
  
Gladio chuckled. “Sorry, Prom, that’ll never happen.”  
  
“What’s a garula?” Noctis mumbled.  
  
Prompto held his arms out, stretching them as far apart as he could. “It’s like this _huge_ ,” he paused at Noctis’s widening eyes and Ignis’s stern gaze, “totally not scary creature that we can totally take on with no problems whatsoever.”  
  
Noctis stared at him, an eyebrow raised. “Wow,” he said, voice flat.  
  
Gladio raised amused eyes to Ignis, and then gestured to Noctis. “I’ll need to clean those too.”  
  
Noctis looked down at himself before glaring at Gladio. “But then what am I going to wear?”  
  
Gladio had a point, though. Noctis’s t-shirt and shorts were wet with water from a stream, and that was hardly a source of cleanliness. Ignis nodded and gestured towards the tent, pressing a hand on Noctis’s shoulder to encourage him towards it. “I’m sure we can manage something.”  
  
It turned out to be a lot more difficult than he had imagined. Noctis’s body as an adult was strong and toned and slim, but even his regular clothes dwarfed his younger body, hanging off of him and swallowing him up. He was left swimming in a t-shirt that hung down to his knees and clutching at a pair of boxers that threatened to fall down.  
  
Noctis glared at him. “Stop laughing.”  
  
“I’m not laughing,” Ignis replied automatically, but he pushed his glasses up his nose to try and hide the way he was fighting back a grin. “Perhaps I can find a way to rectify this.”  
  
He ended up taking a spare belt out of his own bag, retrieving one of his daggers from the armoury to carefully poke another hole in the leather. A part of him hated to ruin such good material, but it was necessary and he would no doubt be able to acquire more belts from the stores they frequented.  
  
Miraculously, the belt worked, keeping both the t-shirt and the boxers in place. All right, he might have looked a little ridiculous, and the sullen face he was pulling _certainly_ didn’t help matters, but it would do for the night until his other clothes were washed and dried.  
  
“You’re still laughing,” Noctis said.  
  
Ignis tried to cover his amused snort with a cough, running a hand over his face. “Forgive me,” he said. “You just...you look a little—”  
  
Noctis huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Shut up.”  
  
From outside the tent, there was a distinctive whine and then, “Ignis! When are we gonna _eat_? We’re overdue some lunch!”  
  
“Ah, yes,” Ignis rolled his eyes. “I must go and tend to the other child, because that’s absolutely what my job is.”  
  
“I _heard_ that. Gosh, you guys are so _mean_ to me, you— _ow_! What was _that_ for?”  
  
Gladio chuckled. “Just get your skinny ass up and help me out over here, you ingrate.”  
  
It looked like Noctis was trying to fight back a smirk. Ignis smiled at him and nodded his head towards the tent opening. “Come on," he said. “Let’s go and referee those two, shall we?” When Noctis made no attempt to move, Ignis felt a flash of worry shoot through him. “What’s the matter? Does your back hurt again?” He certainly hoped not, as they had given him another potion to help make it easier on him, so he could rest up for the remainder of the day without the pain from before. If the effects were wearing off already, then that meant something was wrong.  
  
But Noctis shook his head, biting his lip and frowning a little. “Ignis,” he said softly. “Do we really have to stay here?”  
  
Ah, so that was it. “Yes,” Ignis replied. “I’m sorry, but we have no other choice.”  
  
“I don’t want to stay here,” Noctis mumbled, eyes downcast.  
  
And Ignis would like nothing more than to pack up their things and find somewhere else to stay, a caravan, a motel, _anything_ , just as long as it helped Noctis feel safe, especially after the stress he had already endured today. But they couldn’t leave, he simply couldn’t risk it. “Just give it one night, Noct,” he said. “Try and rest here, just for tonight. If you don’t like it, and if we haven’t changed you back tomorrow, then we’ll find somewhere else to stay at night."  
  
Noctis didn’t look happy about the idea, but he shrugged a little and nodded. Ignis tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Again, I _promise_ you, nothing will happen to you out here, Noct. Have I ever broken a promise?”  
  
Noctis paused, then shook his head a little. “No.”  
  
“Well, there you go.”  
  
He stared at Ignis, and it looked as if he wanted to say more, but Prompto’s voice drifted over to them again before either of them could speak. “Damn it, stop it. Ignis! Gladio’s trying to drown me!”  
  
Ignis let out a heavy sigh, but he was relieved to see the slightly amused look on Noctis’s face. Ignis patted his shoulder and moved towards the opening of the tent. “Come on, you can help me with the children out there.”  
  
  
~ &~  
  
  
Noctis grew more and more agitated the darker the sky became, shoulders tense, jaw clenched, feet tapping on the ground. Once the sky was completely black and they were awash in the orange glow of the fire, he became hyperaware, jumpy at even the slightest sound.  
  
“Poor little guy,” Prompto said quietly. He stood beside Ignis, having helped chop up some ingredients for dinner, and he watched the prince with sad eyes. “I mean, daemons are scary enough for us. What’s it gotta be like for a kid?”  
  
“You have to remember,” Ignis said, keeping his voice just as low. Noctis was far enough away that he wouldn’t be able to hear them if they kept their voices down. “For him, it’s only been two years since he was attacked by that daemon. His fear is born out of actual experience, and he knows that he’s very vulnerable like this.”  
  
Gladio was getting the plates ready, but he paused and gave Ignis a thoughtful look. “That’s understandable, but he’s got us, you know? We’ll keep him safe. He’s got to know that much, at least.”  
  
“He doesn’t know us,” Ignis answered. Prompto opened his mouth, looking ready to object, so Ignis continued. “Yes, I’m including myself in there, as well. The last time he saw me, I was twelve years old and couldn’t fight worth a damn. He doesn’t know of our experience. Not to mention he did, indeed, have six fully trained bodyguards with him on that night, and they were all killed right in front of him. So any of our reassurances will mean naught compared to his experiences.”  
  
It had taken years for Noctis to fully open up about his attack. Of course, Ignis had known what had happened from the start, but that had only been the bare basics; Noctis had been attacked, Noctis was hurt, Noctis needed help to recover. Then, as the years went by, he learned more about the incident. Some from written reports, some from King Regis himself, but mostly from hushed conversations in the middle of the night, whenever Noctis had snuck into Ignis’s room for comfort from the bad dreams that plagued him.  
  
Of course, Noctis still had nightmares, even if he would flat out deny it. He still obviously held some discomfort whenever he was in the presence of daemons, but he was stronger now, and their constant battles had given him a new confidence. He was able to face them with his head held high.  
  
This Noctis, however, he knew of no such thing, and he hadn’t witnessed their skills in combat. All he had to go by were the memories of men being torn open right in front of him, cars slashed apart like scissors cutting through paper, and then he himself being the focus of that force.  
  
He had every right to be afraid.  
  
All they could do for him, if this affliction lasted longer than twenty-four hours, was make sure to avoid any daemons whatsoever. They would have to be more careful with how they spent their time, they would have to make sure they could find suitable places to rest without having to risk travelling at night, even if it would only be briefly.  
  
Prompto whooped rather loudly once Ignis declared that dinner was ready, practically snatching his plate away and skipping over to his chair by the fire. Gladio rolled his eyes, making some remark about how he “was going to trip over and send his dinner flying one of these days” before he took his own plate. Ignis fought back an amused smirk, imagining the scenario all too well, and he carried his own and Noctis’s meals over to their seats.  
  
Noctis was sitting on his chair, legs pulled up and crossed, fiddling with his phone, but he looked up at Ignis with curiosity and took the plate from him. Ignis sat in his own chair and waited, watching as Noctis stared down at his kebabs as if they were poisonous or as if they would snap at him. The boy picked one of them up and sniffed at it curiously before taking a rather cautious bite.  
  
He only had to wait a moment. Ignis found himself smiling, because Noctis’s eyes had lit up suddenly, with surprise and joy, and he was eating a lot more eagerly now. “I take it the food is to your liking, then?” Ignis couldn’t help but tease, chuckling when Noctis nodded in return, his mouth so full he couldn’t talk.  
  
Well then. Despite how incredibly stressful and terrifying this day had been, it was almost worth it to see the pleased look on the little prince’s face.  
  
  
~&~  
  
  
Noctis curled up on his side, facing the wall of the tent, and he hugged his knees to his chest as he listened to the three men getting ready for bed. It was so weird. It wasn’t like he had never slept in the same room as someone else before, he still went running to Ignis’s room whenever the nightmares got too bad or whenever he got so lonely it felt like it could choke him, but this was just _weird_. They were talking and laughing and making jokes, and they were just so relaxed around each other. He wondered if this was what it was like to have a sleepover.  
  
Inside the tent, with the walls around them and the ceiling above them, it was easier to pretend that they weren’t still outside. He could just pretend that they had set up a tent in some empty room back home, that they were merely playing at the idea of camping out, that there were all sorts of protection around them. He could close his eyes and imagine that there were guards out in the corridors beyond, that his dad was somewhere nearby, that it was all okay.  
  
Except he could sometimes hear things rustling in the slight breeze, he could hear the sound of some distant creature calling out, he could hear the campfire making crackling noises outside.  
  
What if the daemons came? What if Ignis was wrong and this place wasn’t safe? What if they would get attacked in the middle of the night, when they were all sleeping? What if _more_ people died because of him? What if something was outside right this second, waiting to tear into the tent and hurt them, waiting to—  
  
“Noct?” a large hand touched his shoulder and he jumped a little. “Are you all right?”  
  
Noctis glanced up at Ignis’s face - _Ignis,_ gods _, it was Ignis, and he was so_ tall - and nodded. “I’m fine.”  
  
Ignis gave him a small smile. “Yes, that’s why you’re holding onto your phone as if it’ll save your life.”  
  
Noctis looked down. He had the phone clutched to his chest, his knuckles turning white around it, gripping it so tightly his fingers were starting to ache. He had thought about trying to call his dad again, had wondered if he could sneak out of the tent to try and speak with him, but he remembered he had the wrong number. Besides, his dad would be busy, wouldn’t he? He had more important things to do and bothering him now, at this time, just because he felt a little scared would be a very selfish thing to do.  
  
Still. His dad would know what to do. His dad would know just what to say to help him fall asleep.  
  
“Are you still worried about being outside at night?”  
  
They were probably sick of hearing him complain about it, they probably thought he was such a coward, such a _baby_ , especially after everything that had happened today. Noctis bit his lip and kept his eyes down. “No.” At Ignis’s silence, he looked up at him again and saw _that_ look, the one that said Ignis knew full well what was going on, that he knew Noctis had hidden his carrots away to pretend that he had eaten them.  
  
Noctis huffed. It figured that, even grown up, Ignis would be bossy and would see right through him. “Yes,” he said. “I can’t fall asleep because of it. I don’t want another nightmare.”  
  
Ignis made a thoughtful noise. He sat up suddenly, grabbing the bag stuffed in the corner near Noctis’s head, and he rooted through a side pocket until he pulled out a small object. He pushed the bag back into the corner and moved back to Noctis, holding out his hand. “Perhaps this will help.”  
  
His Carbuncle figurine. Noctis stared at it, then dropped the phone so he could take it, running his fingers over the familiar curves. Ignis gave him a small smile and laid back down, mumbling something to Gladio and Prompto on the other side of him.  
  
If he had needed any more proof that Ignis and his friends were telling the truth, then this was it. This was definitely _his_ , it still had the tiny scratch on its side from when he had accidentally scraped it against a door, and the only way it could be all the way out here was if _he_ had brought it. It couldn’t have been stolen, since whenever he didn’t carry it with him he always made sure to lock it away in safe places so that no one could take it away from him.  
  
Noctis felt tears prickling in his eyes, although he didn’t know why. It was just so _confusing_ being out here. It had been an awful day, a _terrifying_ day, and more than anything he wished he was back home so he could curl up in his bed and forget about it all.  
  
But...at least he had Ignis. And—and _them_. Prompto and Gladio. At least he wasn’t alone.  
  
Noctis closed his hand around the figurine and, ignoring how _babyish_ it seemed, he rolled over and moved closer to Ignis, facing the man as he curled up at his side and closed his eyes, Carbuncle held to his chest.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ivorydice.tumblr.com


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW, it has been SO long since I updated this fic, I'm sorry! I'm also really sorry about this crappy and boring chapter, I wasn't sure how else to improve it and I wanted to get it out anyway since it's been so long since the last update :O
> 
> But I hope you enjoy it anyway, and, as always, thank you so so much for all the comments/kudos/etc it means so much to me, like, you have no idea how happy it makes me lol <3
> 
> I'll try and not be so slow with updates in the future! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

  
  
Ignis, as always, was the first to rise in the morning. He stared up at the tent ceiling above them, listening to the sounds of the others still slumbering, and then he turned his head to the left. Noctis was still curled up beside him, his body relaxed and loose with sleep, Carbuncle still cradled in his hand like a lifeline. His face, still small and round and younger than what it was supposed to be, was peaceful. Good. At least he had been able to rest, then.  
  
If Prompto’s theory that this could simply be a twenty-four hour effect was true, then they still had a little while to go to see if it would play out that way. Ignis ran a hand over his eyes and got up, preparing to get dressed and get some Ebony into him before he would face what was bound to be an interesting day ahead of them.  
  
He had gone without setting the alarm on his phone last night. Noctis usually never paid any attention to it anyway - always such a heavy sleeper - but Ignis simply hadn’t wanted to take the chance that it could have frightened the boy awake while he was still in this condition, and he had definitely needed his rest.  
  
As it turned out, he hadn’t needed to use the alarm anyway. Prompto and Gladio were up not long after he was, stepping out of the tent with hooded eyes and hands covering their yawns. Ignis watched them stumble around the campsite with amusement, although, really, it only ever took them a few minutes to freshen up before they were wide awake and ready for whatever the day held in store for them.  
  
“So, I was thinking, last night,” Gladio said quietly, chewing on a piece of toast, “if we’re sticking around for a little while to see if Noct will change back, then I might head out to that quarry and check out those ruins they fell in. See if I can find anything out about what happened.”  
  
Ignis sipped at his coffee and nodded. “A good idea,” he replied. He looked over at Prompto, who was sitting in one of the campfire chairs and eating his own toast, his eyes on them. “Would you be up to showing him where it is?”  
  
Prompto pulled a face at him and groaned, but he nodded anyway. “Yeah, sure. Whenever you’re ready, big guy.” He finished off the rest of his toast and brushed the crumbs off his knees. “You gonna stay here with Noct, Iggy?”  
  
Ignis nodded. “After yesterday, I think he deserves to rest as much as possible,” he said. “I shall keep an eye on him, in case he wakes up.”  
  
“And call us if he changes back while we’re gone,” Gladio said.  
  
“Knowing our recent luck, he probably won’t,” Prompto muttered, stifling another yawn. “Best start thinking of backup plans, yeah?”  
  
Ignis raised an eyebrow at him. “I’ll see what I can do.”  
  
  
~&~  
  
  
“So, what do you think? Reckon he’ll just poof back and that’s it?”  
  
Gladio glanced over at Prompto, unable to keep from rolling his eyes when he saw the younger man had his camera out yet again, and he shrugged. “Kind of hard to say right now,” he said. “It’s possible. Never hurts to keep your hopes up, right?”  
  
“Right,” Prompto smiled. He kicked at a rock, and they watched as it bounced further along the path ahead of them. “It’s still kinda weird, though. I mean, having him look at us and not knowing who we are? It’s creepy.”  
  
“Well, hopefully Iggy can help him feel more comfortable if he ends up stuck like this for a little while longer.”  
  
“Yeah, thank the gods for Iggy.”  
  
There was something a little sad in Prompto’s tone, and Gladio glanced over at him again to see a slight solemn look in his eyes, a rather rare look for him. Of course, he couldn’t blame him. Noctis was his best friend, they did practically everything together, and suddenly having him turn hostile against him and not recognize him for who he was must have been a rather harsh blow. As if all of their memories together meant _nothing_.  
  
Yeah, Gladio understood. He had known that kid for eight years now, had trained him, had bled beside him, had laughed with him, and now Noctis had no idea who he was. He looked at Gladio and he saw a potential threat. Or he had, until they had been able to convince him of otherwise, but the look on the kid’s face when they had caught up with him in the forest had haunted Gladio all night.  
  
Noctis had looked at him and had thought he was someone who would _hurt_ him, and that wasn’t right.  
  
“Here we are,” Prompto said as they reached the quarry. He pocketed his camera and crouched, carefully moving forwards and making his way down the slope, and, for a moment, he almost looked like some sort of professional. Almost like he  _wasn't_ usually a bumbling and clumsy mess.  
  
Gladio followed him down. “Why did you guys end up _here_ , anyway?” he said as they reached the ground, and he brushed the dirt off his hands once they were back on their feet.  
  
“Noct said it could be a good place to look,” Prompto shrugged. “Come on, the hole’s this way.”  
  
It had been almost hard to believe that they had taken on a few coeurls by themselves, and yet there was no denying it once they reached the hole Prompto had described. The coeurls were still there, surprisingly enough, motionless, curled up, both of them clearly dead, and Gladio found himself nodding a little in approval as a flash of pride ran through him.  
  
They might not have looked like much, in fact they might have looked downright pathetic most of the time, but there was no denying that those kids were fighters.  
  
Gladio regarded the hole warily, turning his flashlight on and letting it shine down into the darkness. It looked like it sloped inwards and downwards, nothing too steep by the looks of it, but the fact that the ground and the wall had given way apparently so easily was concerning. There could be other places in the quarry that were just as unstable, like pitfalls waiting to happen.  
  
“Well then,” Gladio gestured to Prompto, smirking at the wary look on his face. “Shall we?”  
  
Prompto had a hell of a lot of guts, though, he had to give him that much. He might have bitched a lot during training and fighting and hunting, he might have let off an endless stream of frightened babbling while they were in caves and ruins, but there was no denying that he would still carry on with the task even if he was terrified of it.  
  
As they descended the slope into the darkness below, Gladio felt himself grow more wary, the skin on the back of his neck prickling coldly. This wasn’t right. He shone his flashlight along the stone floor, the walls, the final dead coeurl further ahead, frowning at what he saw.  
  
The slope looked like it could have been a natural formation, but, given the sight before him, he had to wonder if it actually _was_ , or if it had once been a part of whatever structure seemed to be underneath the quarry. Like Prompto had said in his recounting of events yesterday, they had appeared to have fallen into some old ruins.  
  
Gladio frowned again and walked cautiously towards the coeurl, inspecting the floor as he went, ignoring Prompto’s sharp cry of “careful!” behind him. He unhooked his flashlight from his jacket and held it in his hand, shining it directly at the floor to see if—there. There was some sort of seam in the stone, where it met the beginnings of a pressure plate. “So,” Gladio called out. “This is definitely a pressure plate. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a booby trap.”  
  
There was a suspicious noise behind him, like a cough, like Prompto was trying to hold back a laugh, and Gladio looked over his shoulder to raise an eyebrow at him, exasperated. “Really, Prom?”  
  
Prompto gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”  
  
Of course Prompto would still giggle away at the word  _booby_ like he was some sort of kid, of _course_ he would. Gladio rolled his eyes, shaking his head to himself as he turned back to the plate. The coeurl seemed to be weighing it down for now, and he couldn’t do much else while it was like that, so he took the opportunity to look along the walls and the ceiling.  
  
The ceiling itself was fine, but there were lines of small holes in both walls, unnoticeable at first in the dark, but far more prominent as he stepped closer with his light firmly trained on them.  
  
“You said a green gas covered Noct, right?” he glanced at Prompto over his shoulder again.  
  
“Yeah,” Prompto nodded, coming closer, his brow furrowed. “So, what, Noct and the coeurl landed on that thing - that pressure plate - and then the gas came out of these things?”  
  
“Looks that way.”  
  
“But then where did the gas come from?”  
  
Gladio took a breath and went closer to the holes, trying to peer through them, but he couldn’t really see anything. “Not sure,” he said. “There could have been some sort of storage area or another room containing the gas.”  
  
“They look kinda like pipes,” Prompto murmured, and he reached out, running his fingers along the holes, feeling the inside of them. “And they _feel_ like pipes. Like _old_ pipes.”  
  
Gladio frowned, staring at the holes, then turned to the pressure plate again. Curious despite himself, and well aware that Ignis would berate him for this later, he grabbed the coeurl and pulled it away from the trap, dragging it along the stone floor and dumping it off to the side.  
  
“Uhh, what are you doing?” Prompto took a step back, his eyes widening.  
  
“I want to see what this thing does,” Gladio grinned at him and he pulled his greatsword out of the armoury.  
  
Prompto scrambled backwards this time, rushing towards the slope, yelling out a “Whoa, are you _crazy_?” before Gladio was sliding his sword along the floor until it landed on the pressure plate, setting it off, clicks echoing around them loudly as it descended once more into the ground.  
  
And nothing happened.  
  
No gas, no nasty surprises when he made sure Prompto was okay, nothing.  
  
“Huh,” Gladio muttered.  
  
“Ugh, gods, _spiders_ ,” Prompto yelped, slapping at his shoulders, brushing away at his jacket and shivering, and then he slapped Gladio’s shoulder. “Never do that again, or at least give a guy a warning next time. You nearly gave me a heart attack!”  
  
Gladio grinned down at him. “Sorry.”  
  
Prompto glared at him, then turned his gaze back to the trap. “So, what does this mean, exactly?”  
  
“Well, it doesn’t exactly provide us with any further clues on how to fix Noct,” Gladio said, letting out a sigh. They just had to hope that Prompto’s theory was right, that it was a twenty-four hour thing, otherwise they could be in for a lot of trouble here. They would either have to hole up somewhere and hide him away until they could find a way to solve this mess, or they would have to go to extra lengths to keep him safe if they chose to still wander around.  
  
Gladio hated the idea of hiding away somewhere, but with Niflheim out for them then they might not actually have any choice in the matter after all.  
  
And it didn’t help that Noctis was proving to be so damn _questioning_ about everything. If they weren’t careful, then one of them might let slip some information about current events, and if Gladio knew anything it was that _that_ would be a very bad thing to happen. He might have been all for toughening the kid up, helping him act more courageously and something more befitting the name of a king, but letting a _kid_ know about all the stuff that had gone down was just plain _cold_ and he couldn’t do it.  
  
Letting out a sigh, he stepped over his greatsword, leaving it on the plate despite that it was clearly a _useless_ trap now and they weren’t in any danger of being turned into kids themselves, and he stepped further into the passage, shining his flashlight along the walls and the ceiling and the floor, keeping an eye out for any other nasty surprises.  
  
What he came across, instead, was a blockage. The corridor didn’t go much further than the trap, only a few feet between the plate and the rubble that blocked it off from the rest of whatever else was down here. It looked almost like a cave-in, but he found himself frowning, shining his flashlight along the rubble. Was it just his imagination, or were there gaps, as if this place had _purposefully_ been blocked off?  
  
“Ah, _gods_ ,” Prompto was saying behind him, slapping at his arms again. “Dude, can we get outta here yet? There are _so_ many spiders, it’s not even funny.”  
  
“Does this look like a natural cave-in to you?” Gladio said, still shining his flashlight along where the rubble met the ceiling. “Something about this isn’t right.”  
  
Prompto came up behind him, his footsteps loud and echoing around them. “This whole _place_ isn’t right,” he said, but he looked at where Gladio was pointing at with his flashlight. “Yeah, it looks pretty natural to me. Why?”  
  
Gladio shook his head a little. “Don’t know, just seems almost _deliberate_ to me. As if someone blocked this place off on purpose.”  
  
Prompto glanced up at him, his expression dubious. “Yeah, that sounds a little too tinfoil hat for me. It’s an old ruins, Gladio, it’s bound to cave in at some point, right? Hell, look at the state of the ground up above. This whole _place_ is a mess, man.”  
  
Gladio paused, then nodded. This place was clearly old and falling apart, and so having the rest of the passage blocked off like this wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary. Besides, it wasn’t anything that could help Noctis, so it didn’t exactly need dwelling over for now. “Yeah, guess you’re right,” he said to Prompto. “Let’s get outta here, then, yeah? I think we’re done here.”  
  
“Hell yeah, away from these damn spiders,” Prompto grinned, and, once Gladio had retrieved his greatsword and returned it to the armoury, they climbed up the slope and back up into the quarry.  
  
Once they reached the top, Prompto’s eyes widened as he stared at something and he groaned. “Oh _man_ , I don’t believe this!”  
  
  
~&~  
  
  
When he woke, Noctis was eager to get back into his own clothes, now dry from spending an entire night near the heat of the fire. They smelled a little of smoke, as Gladio had said they would, but he didn’t seem to mind, looking more comfortable once he was fully dressed. The potions and the full night of rest seemed to have done him some good too. He was still moving a little gingerly, but nowhere near the painful hobbling of yesterday, and, while he still seemed a little wary about his surroundings, his shoulders were no longer tense.  
  
Well, that was, until he stepped out of the tent with his phone in his hand and a frown on his face, teeth worrying at his bottom lip. “Ignis?” he mumbled.  
  
Ignis paused, about to reply to a text from Cor - who, unfortunately, knew nothing about Noctis’s new condition but had said he was going to look into it - and he regarded the boy with a tense feeling creeping down his spine. “What is it?”  
  
Noctis looked down at his phone. “I, um, I was trying to call my dad, but I can’t get an answer. I think this number’s wrong or something. Do you have the right number?”  
  
Damn it. Of course Noctis still wanted to speak with his father. Perhaps he was seeking reassurances, perhaps it was something else, but how could Ignis tell him that he simply _couldn’t_ speak with him without breaking his heart? It didn’t help that lying to the prince, especially about his father of all things, felt like such a terrible thing to do, Ignis would rather face an entire horde of daemons than continue to do so.  
  
Still. He couldn’t tell Noctis the truth of his father, and he had to put a stop to this before the situation could fall out of hand, before Noctis figured something out, because he would eventually. “Noct,” Ignis said, letting his own phone rest in his lap and motioning his head to the chair beside him. “Come here, please.”  
  
Noctis stared at him curiously, but did as he was told, making his way over to the campfire and sitting down.  
  
Ignis leaned forward, clasping his hands together, and considered how to do this. Perhaps getting straight to the point would be best. “I don’t think we should contact your father, Noct,” he said.  
  
Noctis’s eyes widened and he sat up straighter. “What? Why?”  
  
“Noct, your father was concerned enough when we came out here in the first place,” Ignis said, and it wasn’t actually a lie. “And if he were to learn of your new...condition, if he knew how much more vulnerable you are now, well, he would worry even more, wouldn’t he? And I don’t think there is any point in causing him such distress when this is only a temporary matter, especially when he is, as I said yesterday, quite busy these days.”  
  
He hated himself for practically putting such a burden on Noctis’s shoulders, especially when those shoulders slumped and a sort of understanding came to those blue eyes. For a moment, Ignis’s heart really ached for him. No child should have had such an understanding that they couldn’t bother a parent simply because they were _so busy_ , and yet Noctis had always seemed to accept that his father had to put his kingdom before his family, and he had never seemed to begrudge him of doing so either.  
  
He clearly wanted nothing more than to just _talk_ to his father, and normally Ignis would have caved and let him, he would have shouted down every secretary so they could have a moment together, even if it really _would_ have given King Regis a little more to be concerned about.  
  
But he couldn’t let them have that moment, and he couldn’t tell Noctis why.  
  
_It’s only temporary_ , he kept telling himself. Soon, they would get Noctis back to normal, and their older Noctis already knew why he couldn’t talk to his father anymore.  
  
“Yeah,” Noctis said, and Ignis fought back a wince. It was obvious he was trying to sound as if he didn’t care. “I get it. You’re right.”  
  
Ignis met the prince’s eyes and tried for a smile. “If you are in need of anything, you always have us. You only need to ask.”  
  
Noctis stared at him. “No, I know, I just—” he looked away with a grimace. “It’s stupid. Nevermind.”  
  
Frowning, Ignis opened his mouth to ask him to continue, to know what he meant, but he was interrupted by the sudden sounds of Gladio and Prompto making their way back up to the campsite.  
  
Prompto was stretching, his arms held above his head, before he let them drop. “Phew,” he grinned at Ignis. “That was an ordeal I never wanna go through again.”  
  
Gladio was looking at Noctis. “The kid’s still a kid, then.”  
  
“For now, yes,” Ignis answered, fighting back a smile at the unamused look in Noctis’s eyes. “I say we give it a little longer, since Prompto doesn’t recall the exact time when Noct changed. Did you receive a message from the marshal, by any chance?”  
  
Gladio nodded. “Yeah, doesn’t know anything about this, and he’s going to look into it.”  
  
“Yes, he said the same thing to me.” It was only then he realized Gladio was carrying a rather large duffle bag with him, slung over his shoulder, and he dropped it down onto the ground with a surprising amount of care. “What’s that?” Ignis nodded towards it.  
  
“Property of Jace Ashwood,” Gladio answered.  
  
“Cindy’s hunter friend,” Ignis blinked at him.  
  
Prompto had retrieved a drink out of the cooler, unscrewing the top and taking a large gulp as he practically fell into one of the chairs. “We found it in the quarry on our way back,” he said. “I must have missed it yesterday with all the...excitement. Noct said the quarry would be a good place to search, he’s gonna be so smug when he’s back to normal.” He looked down at the small version of their prince and pointed at him. “Dude, promise me you won’t be smug about this when you’re big again.”  
  
Noctis smirked at him. “Not promising anything.”  
  
Ignis watched them impatiently, glancing between them. “So, did you find anything else on your little excursion, besides the bag?”  
  
“Well,” Prompto said with a huff and a shiver. “We found a _lot_ of spiders.”  
  
Gladio rolled his eyes. “Damn drama queen,” he muttered. He glanced over at Noctis again, then at Ignis. “We did find something, although I’m not sure how much help it’ll be. It looked like Noct might have set off a trap down there. He landed on some sort of pressure plate built into the floor and the gas came out of these pipes in the walls. It looks _very_ old, might have been some sort of trap for intruders for whatever that place used to be.”  
  
Ignis frowned. “A trap that turns men into children and erases their memories?”  
  
Prompto shrugged. “Would be kind of effective, though, right?” he said. “I mean, a kid is defenseless, and if they can’t remember the reason why they were trespassing in the first place, then even better, yeah?”  
  
That made sense, in a strange sort of way. “Any ideas on how to reverse this, then?”  
  
“What, you think they just left an instruction manual lying around?” Gladio gave him a sardonic look. “We found nothing. Even tried to set the trap off again by using my sword to weigh down the plate, but I’m guessing it used up everything it had on Noct.”  
  
Wonderful. Ignis sighed and pressed his fingers into the bridge of his nose in an attempt to ward off a headache. “While I appreciate your efforts, please refrain from such brash actions in the future. What if we had ended up with another child?”  
  
Gladio smirked. “Wouldn’t have really made a difference if it’d been Prompto.”  
  
Prompto glared at him, which only made Gladio’s smirk grow even wider. “Dude, you suck. I bet if it’d been _you_ , then you’d be a whiny little baby—”  
  
Ignis rolled his eyes and interrupted before this could devolve any further. “Did you find anything else down there? Anything at all?”  
  
“Nothing,” Gladio answered. “It’s only a small area, it seems to be cut off from whatever else may be down there by rubble and debris. Searching the rest of the quarry brought up no other further clues, asides from that hunter’s bag lying off to the side.”  
  
“What _is_ this stuff, anyway?” Noctis spoke up suddenly. “They look weird.”  
  
Ignis looked over at the boy. Noctis had gotten off his chair and had crouched down beside the bag, the zipper pulled wide open, and he was digging his hands around inside, pulling objects out and inspecting them. “Noctis!” Ignis said instantly, and he couldn’t help the chastising tone. “Are you going through someone else’s belongings without their permission?”  
  
Noctis stared up at him with wide eyes, not breaking his gaze even as he pulled his hands from the bag and tried to pull the flaps together. “No,” he said.  
  
“Hey, wait a minute,” Gladio was frowning at the bag and moving closer.  
  
“Dude!” Prompto jumped up from his seat. “That’s freaking _dynamite_!”  
  
There was a moment of stunned silence, where they all looked between Prompto and the bag, and then everyone was in motion. Noctis jumped back, scrambling away from the bag with a yelp and wide eyes, moving more towards the three of them, hiding behind them as they crouched down around the bag and pulled it open.  
  
“He’s right,” Gladio said after a moment, pulling out a thin, cardboard cylinder, his grip gentle and careful. “This is dynamite, it’s _all_ dynamite. Pretty old stuff, too.”  
  
Ignis looked at him sharply. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but we’re supposed to be finding the hunter’s _personal_ belongings.”  
  
“Maybe there’s more than one bag?” Prompto glanced between them.  
  
Gladio shook his head. “Cindy said the job was just for the one bag, he left _one_ bag behind, and this is definitely it.” He reached down to the side, lifting up a strap to reveal a tag that read, in faded letters, _Jace Ashwood_.  
  
“But these aren’t personal belongings, Gladio!” Prompto snapped. He was pulling some of the sticks out, setting them carefully on the ground, trying to dig further into the bag, but there wasn’t anything else of interest. Instead of the irreplaceable, personal items they had been led to believe they were looking for, it was completely full of explosives.  
  
Ignis sat back on his heels, running a hand over his mouth. Something about this certainly didn’t add up, and there was an uncomfortable feeling in his gut. Normally, it wouldn’t bother him _what_ they were looking for, except they had been deliberately _lied_ to about this, either by Cindy herself or her friend hadn’t been completely honest with her.  
  
Sure, it could have very well been because this hunter had wondered if anyone would willingly risk their lives for such dangerous cargo, but there were people out there willing to do a lot more dangerous things, and sometimes for less pay. Being a hunter himself, he would have known this.  
  
That suggested that he had lied about his missing belongings because there was something more to this, perhaps something a little more shady and questionable.  
  
“Sometimes blasting is used in, like, quarry work, right?” Prompto murmured after a while. “And there were coeurls in that quarry. Didn’t he say he was nearly killed by a pack of coeurls, and that’s why he had to bail?”  
  
Gladio shook his head slowly, jaw clenched. “I don’t like this, something doesn’t feel right.”  
  
“Do you think what happened to Noct could be related?”  
  
Ignis looked over at the boy, who was hovering behind them, peering over their shoulders curiously despite how nervous the dynamite obviously made him. “What happened to Noct seems more like a separate incident,” Ignis replied. “However, I wonder if this Jace Ashwood knows more about the area than we first anticipated. Most of all, I don’t appreciate the fact that we’ve been lied to regarding this job. What was so important that he felt the need to mislead us on this?”  
  
Gladio was staring at him. “Think we should pay him a visit?”  
  
“We might as well return his bag to him,” Ignis nodded. “He seems so desperate to have it back, after all.”  
  
  
~ &~  
  
  
One of the downsides to Noctis now being a child was the fact that he hadn’t been trained in using the armoury at this age, and they were now faced with just how much they had been relying on and indulging in Noctis’s abilities recently.  
  
Noctis was—well, _resourceful_ wasn’t exactly the right word, but it was the kindest way to put it. He liked to find ways to make things easier for himself, and his way of dealing with their camping gear, and the fact that they would have to cart it around everywhere if they wanted an actual tent to sleep in, was to temporarily put it all in the armoury so that he could pull it all out later when they found a good place to rest for the night.  
  
The first time he had suggested it, Ignis had been slightly impressed at the idea, but mostly exasperated. It was just so inherently _Noctis_ , and the prince had been completely set on using this new method of his that Ignis hadn’t really been able to object to it.  
  
Of course, the more they did it, the more he realized that it certainly _was_ a useful ability, especially when they found places to camp in caverns or through forests or other places the Regalia couldn’t necessarily reach and was at far too much of a distance for a comfortable trek with such luggage.  
  
And now, _of course_ , they were paying the price for their lack of discipline. Ignis would have preferred the reminder at any other time—certainly not while Noctis was in _this_ condition, and especially not when they were carrying around a bag of explosives that had everyone on edge.  
  
“Yeah, we’ve got it,” Gladio was saying, holding his phone up to his ear with one hand while still managing to balance and carry quite a lot of their gear. “We need a favour, though. We’ve ran into a little problem on our end.”  
  
“Little, indeed,” Ignis muttered, sending the boy at his side an amused look.  
  
“Hey,” Noctis said and glared at him.  
  
Gladio snorted and smirked down at Noctis. “No, it’s nothing to worry about, but I was wondering if you could give us this guy’s address. We’d like to know more about this area, and he might be the guy to talk to for our little problem. I think he could help. No, it’s _nothing_ to worry about, I swear. Okay, thanks. Yeah, talk to you soon.” He hung up the phone, then continued to read the screen, shoving it into his pocket after a moment. “Okay, so apparently this Jace guy is holed up in Lestallum. Cindy texted the address.”  
  
“Hey, maybe we can stop in on Iris,” Prompto grinned. “Oh man, she’ll _flip_ if she lays eyes on Noct when he’s like this.”  
  
Noctis looked up at Ignis then, tilting his head, eyes curious, and Ignis smiled at him. “Iris is Gladio’s younger sister.”  
  
“Ah,” Noctis merely nodded, then shifted the straps of his backpack. He had wanted to help carry some of the gear back, and so they had given him a bag to carry some of the smaller things, not wanting to aggravate any leftover aches he might have had from yesterday.  
  
Prompto slowed down so he was walking closer to Gladio. “Soooo,” he smiled a little, eyes so bright and eager that he reminded Ignis of a puppy waiting for a treat. He could already take a guess as to what Prompto’s question would be long before he even asked it. “Did Cindy say anything?”  
  
“Yeah, sure,” Gladio said, smirking, apparently also not fooled by Prompto’s behaviour. “She said a lot of things.”  
  
“About me! Did Cindy say anything about me?”  
  
Gladio chuckled and shoved the blond with his free hand, grinning when the younger man let out a rather indignant squawk as he almost tripped over. “I know, dumbass. You really need to work on being subtle, Prom. And no, she didn’t say anything about you. You know she mostly talks about the damn car.”  
  
“Aw, man!” Prompto whined.  
  
“She certainly does seem to have a love for vehicles,” Ignis said, smiling over at the younger man. “I doubt it’s anything personal, Prompto.”  
  
Noctis was watching them with curiosity, and he looked up at Prompto hesitantly. “Who’s Cindy? She your girlfriend or something?”  
  
Prompto’s face turned bright red as Gladio let out a rather obnoxiously loud laugh. “He wishes!” the Shield said, grinning.  
  
“It could happen!” Prompto protested.  
  
“Yeah, in your dreams, and I bet even _then_ you’ll trip over your own words or do something to embarrass yourself.”  
  
The blond stuck his tongue out. “Well, I’m sorry we’re not all such _perfect specimens_ like you.”  
  
Gladio grinned again. “Hey, you said it. Don’t hate me because it’s true.”  
  
“Oh, gods, you’re so—”  
  
Ignis let out a heavy sigh. “If you children could save your squabbling for the playground, please, that would be swell.”  
  
Beside him, Noctis made a suspicious noise, as if he was choking back a laugh, but then he paused suddenly. “Hey, look.”  
  
The area they had left the Regalia was coming into view, and the car was, indeed, a sight for sore eyes, shining beautifully in the sun, like a beacon trying to bring them home. Ignis hesitated, however, as did Prompto and Gladio, all too aware that this was King Regis’s car and wondering how Noctis would react to seeing it.  
  
“That’s my dad’s car!” Noctis said, then he was taking off at a run before they could stop him, and they could only quicken their walking pace to try and catch up.  
  
When they reached him, he was brushing his fingers along the metal, following it around to the hood and to the passenger side, eyes taking in the sight with such reverence. He glanced up at them curiously, and Ignis fought back a sigh of relief, glad that there was no sadness in his gaze, that there was no disappointment that his father wasn’t here.  
  
“How come you have my dad’s car?” Noctis asked, and he leaned against it, folding his arms along the top of the doors as he watched them pack the stuff away in the trunk.  
  
“Your car wasn’t available,” Gladio said, smirking down at him and taking his backpack from him. “And it was far too small to fit all four of us anyway.”  
  
Noctis’s eyes lit up. “No way, I have a _car_?”  
  
“You betcha!” Prompto grinned. “It’s a pretty slick car, too.”  
  
Ignis finished placing his things in the trunk and made his way over to the driver’s seat, sending a smile over at the boy. “It’s just a pity you hardly ever drive it.”  
  
Noctis frowned. “Why don’t I?”  
  
“You prefer spending your time napping in the passenger seat, instead.”  
  
“Hey,” Gladio was still hunched over the trunk, and he looked over at Ignis suddenly, frowning a little in concern, “what am I doing with this bag? Should it stay in the trunk?”  
  
The idea of driving around with so many explosives didn’t really appeal to Ignis, and he tossed the car keys back and forth in his hands as he thought it over. They had no choice, really. They couldn’t put it in the armoury, they couldn’t leave it lying around somewhere, and everyone would be just as uncomfortable if it was in the car with them. “Yes,” he said eventually. “Perhaps you could try and wedge it so the bag won’t jostle around?”  
  
Gladio nodded. “It shouldn’t set off on its own, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to be too careful.”  
  
“Guess you could say our car is now the _bomb_ ,” Prompto grinned.  
  
Gladio groaned, his head ducked back into the trunk as he maneuvered things around inside. “Prompto, that was so terrible, I actually want to kill you for it.”  
  
“Sorry.” He was making his way around the car to his usual place in the passenger seat, clearly as a force of habit, but he paused, eyeing Noctis, who was still leaning against the car, fingers stroking along the metal. As he approached, Noctis looked up, eyes a little shy.  
  
Prompto glanced at Ignis, then smiled down at the little prince. “Hey, you wanna sit in the front with Iggy?”  
  
“Oh, um…” Noctis looked at Ignis, and then back at the different seats. “Where do I normally sit?”  
  
“In the back, with Gladio,” Prompto jerked his thumb towards Noctis’s usual space. “But I don’t mind if you wanna swap so you can sit up front. It’s got the best view.”  
  
Noctis bit his lip, lowering his head briefly, his fingers still stroking over the passenger door. “Okay. Yes, please.”  
  
“Sure thing, bud.”  
  
As Prompto turned around to make his way to the back of the car, Noctis reached out suddenly, his hand tugging at the edge of the blond’s jacket. Prompto jerked around in surprise, eyes wide, and Noctis pulled his hand away just as quickly as he had moved it. “Thanks,” the boy said. “Uh...yeah, just wanted to tell you thanks.”  
  
Prompto grinned and said, “No problem, man.” There was something bright and happy in his expression, some sort of invisible weight lifting off of his shoulders a little. His own hand twitched, before it was moving and gently patting Noctis on the top of his arm, and Noctis didn’t even flinch away.  
  
Ignis smiled to himself as they climbed into the car, a flash of pride running through him. Noctis, bless the poor boy, he was _trying_ , attempting to come out of his shell and make things a little more comfortable. Perhaps he felt a lot more easier around them now, now that he knew for certain that they wouldn’t hurt him.  
  
It would definitely make things a lot easier, he thought, as he started the car up. In the corners of his eyes, he could see Noctis smiling at the sound of the engine, his fingers running along the seat beneath him and along the inside of the door, along the dashboard. Perhaps having something of his father’s so close to him helped him feel more at ease, helped soothe something inside that nothing else could touch.  
  
“Okay, then,” Ignis said, glancing back to see Prompto taking a few snaps with his camera, and then meeting Gladio’s gaze. “Are we all ready?”  
  
Gladio nodded. “You bet.”  
  
“All right. Let’s see what Cindy’s hunter friend has been up to.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, Noct uses the armoury to store _everything_ in, and you can pry this headcanon from my cold, dead hands lol.
> 
> Feel free to point out any mistakes/grammar issues/inconsistencies/etc!
> 
> You can find me at tumblr: ivorydice.tumblr.com


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